Screening Tenants can be heart wrenching at times

[Account Closed]

I'm using five minutes of my daily wind down to vent a little bit.

We own a 3 bedroom 1.5 bath SFR in Monroe, WA that had the same tenant for the past 5 years. I'm hustling to get it ready for March 1st and have already screened a few tenants via Zillow Rents and Craigslist.

I've always managed our rentals and done the tenant screening, but I'm almost to the point of hiring a property manager just so I can avoid the tenant screening and property showings.  I love people and take pride in showing our homes, but it's difficult sometimes to hear how tough it is out there for some families to make ends meet.

I'm a landlord and appreciate that I'm slowly building a little bit of wealth through appreciation while having tenants pay for my mortgage.  It's a great opportunity for my family to have some additional income down the road.

But man, it is tough telling a young family with 3 kids that aren't going to be allowed to rent the house due to prior collections owed to landlords and vehicle companies.  Others swore their ESA animals were documented but failed to produce paperwork for their 4 pets.  One family needs to allow their cousins and aunt to stay with them "just for the 1st year" putting 11 people into the home.  

It's tough sometimes to have to choose one family over another.  I live in the town our rentals are in and I have to see these folks around town and at events.  I wish I had more houses to rent out, but then again I guess I'm really just wishing for more/better qualified applicants.

Thanks for letting me rant.  I've got trim to finish and locks to reset!

[Theresa Harris]

It can be tough, but for some (eg 11 people in one house) there are opportunities for them-eg multiple people that can work and help bring in money to pay the bills.  Others (4 ESA and no documents), they are trying to pull a fast one (especially given how easy it is to get documents online for a small amount of money).  I have some rentals in an area with no vacancies and you get all sorts of sad stories some real and some trying to pull a fast one on you.  You learn to stick to the facts and do your best to leave emotions out of it.  For some (collections 5+ years ago and only once), you can listen to the circumstances and then decide.