Lease Agreements for Month to Month Low Income Tenants

[Lois Ginter]

I have been reading a lot here about what to include in lease agreements, and like the idea of setting expectations up front to tenants and exercising consistency with the rules.  I also believe that having a comprehensive set of rules is proactive in regards to preventing maintenance problems and retaining good tenants since everybody is agreeing to the same standards of conduct. 

However, I am getting advice in real life that with low income tenants, too many rules will make it hard to attract tenants, and that since the leases are month to month, and I can terminate with 30 day notice, that being conservative and comprehensive is counter productive.   I can see the logic in this, and I am not trying to be a control freak, but I want to put common sense things in the leases like no flushing diapers down the toilet, not storing abandoned vehicles on the property, not storing items in the common areas, no hazardous materials, etc, and recovery of expenses related to various issues. 

I own four duplexes that are side by side in a struggling area. So BP folks, am I being too cautious?  What is the sweet spot with these type of tenants?