Should I keep tenants that came with the house?

[Greg Brown]

So I recently bought my second duplex, which came with existing tenants in both units. Both of the tenants have aspects that I'm not thrilled about (less than clean living habits), but the tenants on one side just set my alarm bells off.

When I inspected the house before purchase they were living with no water or gas service to the house (they are responsible for utilities). And they had a broken window in the front bedroom that they were living with. And they have a bunch of junk in the back yard (mostly scooter parts). And now that I have the property I just found out that their agreement with the previous landlord was that they pay 1/2 the rent every 2 weeks, meaning that per my lease they would be late every month with the full rent.

They are on a month to month lease, so I can give them 30 days notice to be out whenever I want. I have been going back and forth in my head on how much of a chance I give them to step up and become better tenants before I just give them their notice and end their lease. The old owner apparently had completely stopped fixing anything on the house, so I can see why they weren't taking care of the place either. But I have a strong suspicion that if I ran them through my screening they would fail for too little income. But I don't feel right making them go through screening for the place they have already been living for over a year.

Anyway, I'd like to hear thoughts/opinions. Thanks.