New Tenant Turned Bad or TK Company Screening Issue??

[Ekaterina Stepanova]

Hi Team,

I've just started investing in RE 5 month ago thru a TK company and now facing tenant eviction and really need your input please! 

So, what happened was, I got a great 3/2 SF property in a solid B class neighborhood from a highly regarded and up-sanding TK provider back in March. They have great references on BP as well. Once the reno was completed I was told that they've accepted a deposit for my property and told me that a qualified renter is ready to move in. They explained that she/the tenant is coming with great references, income in 4X the rent, works in medical field, her relative is a long time tenant in one of their properties, so seems like a perfect match! To my request to review her credentials prior to approval i was told that its not the practice and I need to trust TK company expertise as they make sure she complies with requirements (3 times rent, references, no evictions, W2s, etc.).

Five months forward this perfect tenant missed 2 payments and stopped answering her phone in past 2 weeks or so... I just found out about it on Friday, which is 1 month and 10 days after her 1st missed payment! You would ask, how come I didn't notice rent not coming in, right? Well, seems like TK company applied her deposit for the past month and sent me statement as if everything was fine .. This month they just sent me a note saying that "unfortunately we need to evict your tenant for non-payment". I was shocked! For which non-payment? I just got a statement (not yet the money, takes a couple of days) that was stating that everything is OK. 

Well, it is all very confusing to me and I, honestly, not sure how to proceed with this company. I will now, of course, will need to evict the tenant, but what about the TK company? Was it a screening issue or just a tenant "turned bad"? How do I know and do I just eat up all these costs? Is it a normal practice not to have a "say" in your tenant selection when working with TK companies? Why did they cover up a non-paying tenant?

Really appreciate your insights!! 

Thank you!