We Have A Nightmare Tenant - How Can We Fix This?
You got to make sure you're screening your tenants properly so that you don't get any trouble.
Transcript**
So I got a disturbing message from one of our clients and she has a tenant that is in there. It's not so good. She had a contractor that went inside and it says that the unit looks worse than an apartment in a rough part of town, the contractors dreading going back in, but he went to go do that and he feels bad for the tenants, a nice guy, but it just probably went through a rough time.
So things like he smokes a lot in the units. He's having trouble breathing in there. Yeah. The balcony is packed with junk and that even worse. And this is a serving, there was an electrical wire running off the bathroom, the fish tank inside of it, and it goes one water leak. Someone's going to get electrocuted because water and electricity that just don't mix.
So I'm going to take a look at it and, uh, come with me. Let's go take a look.
So, this is a perfect example of why you should be screening your tenants properly because the financial picture of a tenant, well, the credit report, and it's not so much a credit score, but the credit report shows you whether or not they're delinquent on their payments. If they have too much debt or if they're just getting their stuff together.
Because essentially if you have your financial house in order, the rest of your life is pretty much going to be an order and you'll take care of yourself. You take care of your finances, you’ll take care of your place, which is more important. I'm not sure, but this tenant's finished. I bet you, it wasn't that good, you know, and that's not to say that people fall and cross rough times, you know, it kind of, it's unfortunate, but things happen.
So there are situations where screening isn't going to be the end all be all, but I'm telling you that it's a, certainly a big, important part of.
Of course there's traffic. Of course. Why wouldn't it be traffic? This is Toronto.
So a good measure I use to screen tenants is that their income has to be three times the amount of rent that they're paying, the reason why the gross annual income, the reason why I like that is because that's what the banks used to qualify you for a mortgage. So I figured the banks know what they're doing, and the next time you listing your property for leaves, just make sure you don't fall in the trap of pricing it too high.
I mean, obviously it's good to have more rent, but the problem is you won't have a choice and you'd be forced to just accept anybody that walks through the door.
That's not as bad as I thought it would be. You know, the place was a little bit messy. That's okay. But the tenant does have the right to have their own enjoyment. They want to live that way. That's okay. But nothing wrong with it. It didn't break anything and a place is actually not that bad. So. All the other stuff that's talking about still applies.
You got to make sure you're screening your tenants properly so that you don't get any trouble. And, uh, you avoided any headaches down the road.