Increased Security Deposit for New Renters

[Brian Anderson]

I have a home in Orange County, CA that I am going to rent out. The had to evict the last tenants and lost out on 5 months of rent do to the evictions being frozen.  I wanted to ask for 2 months security deposit  to help protect against something like this happening again and was wondering what other residential landlords are doing in California given the laws favoring the tenant.

[Filipe Pereira]

Always get as much of a security deposit as you can if you have concerns about a tenant @Brian Anderson. You can also look into insurance that would cover the rental income should you need to evict a non paying tenant. I'm not sure of the costs of that type of insurance, but it may be worth it if you're not comfortable in your tenant screening quite yet. Another option is to have a mentor of sorts review a tenant's application materials before you accept them. 

If you go with that last option, make sure you have permission to be sharing potentially confidential information with your mentor.