Evictions and Inspections in St. Louis, MO

[Brennan Veikle]

Every year I go through at least a couple evictions in my rentals. The costs of legal fees, loss of rent, cleaning and repairs, and costs of the rental inspection and MORE repairs are killing my ROI. Besides better tenant screening, double damage deposits, etc., is there any other way to keep costs down while going through the eviction process? Do you need a rental inspection EVERY time you get a new tenant in St. Louis? Even if it's only been 3-6 months since the last inspection? Any advice is appreciated!

[Peter MacKercher]

@Brennan Veikle From the criteria you've shared, perhaps the largest difference between yours and my own is the previous evictions. I personally won't rent to someone with previous evictions -- people can change, but I don't like to run the experiment of discovering if they have or haven't. Everyone you'll talk to about their previous eviction has a reason why it wasn't their fault, but even at the lower-end of the rent spectrum you can find tenants that pass this qualification if you're willing to wait a bit longer. Sure, you'll fill up your units sooner if you accept those with previous evictions, but I've never seen the risk be beneficial.

You also mention work history, and I assume your PM is checking for job stability, but that criteria alone doesn't mention income vs rent. I verify income x3 the rent to be sure the apartment is something the tenant can afford if things get rough. 

We have a specific criteria for utilities: they can get them put in their name and have no utility collections accounts on their credit history. Some tenants look for all electric units because 1) gas can be expensive and, 2) they might have gas utility debts and living in an all-electric unit lets them skirt paying that balance. Something to consider.

The other ones on your list are all the foundational ones and don't need much tweaking.

Another trick, if you're iffy on a applicant, is to look at their social media. You can search for a Facebook profile using a name, email or phone number (picked that trick up from BP and it's helped a few times). 

Obviously you're not screening yourself so some of these might not be easily pass on-able, but hopefully this can be parlayed into a productive conversation with your PM.

Cheers!