Professional Tenants Avoid Professional Landlords!
Many attorneys who practice landlord-tenant law use the phrase “professional tenant” to label a landlord’s worst nightmare: the kind of tenant who will offer nothing but headaches, cause nothing but struggles, and leave nothing but unpaid rent and a trashed unit.
Privacy laws protect tenants from exposure, even if they have been evicted multiple times for the same actions. Misrepresentation is difficult to spot and requires exhaustive due diligence. “Professional tenants” have become incredibly knowledgeable of tenancy laws and have developed practices that allow them to live rent-free for prolonged periods of time.
It is also customary for bad tenants to secure a lease through a friend or relative’s name and application. Since the original applicant does not intend to reside on said property, the risk of property damage and criminal activity rise drastically.
The only way to catch and deter these practices is through regular property and tenant inspections that can confirm and document tenant misrepresentation in order to void the rental agreement.
Here are 5 tips to help protect you and your assets:
- Treat the rental application like a legal document. Include a warning at the head of the rental application that the information will be verified, and that false information is considered fraud and grounds for a subsequent eviction. Explain that omissions are the same as false statements.
- Make sure that each adult occupant completes a separate rental application.
- Include a declaration at the bottom of the rental application that verifies the information is true and complete, and provides permission to conduct a tenant background check. Make sure the tenant provides a valid signature beneath the declaration.
- Perform diligent background and reference checks. Do not rely solely on credit checks as most professional tenants will score quite high.
- Notify tenants that regular tenant inspections will be conducted by retired law enforcement officers to deter criminal activity and drive away bad tenants.
The ease by which professional tenants can game the eviction process prompted a Superior Court Judge in Ontario to publicly decry the system that allows these tenants to take advantage of one landlord after another, living rent-free while enjoying continuing delays.