Well I just had to file for eviction yesterday. This is only the second time ever I have had to evict in ten years. The first time was not through negligence on my part - I inherited the tenant with the property. Oh I've had to threaten before and I have kicked tenants out, most often with cash for keys.
If I had to sum up the reasons for these previous times I'd say it was because they were class C rentals in blue collar neighborhoods. One always seems to be chasing those people for rent. Since moving to class B white collar neighborhoods I haven't had any problems collecting rents. As someone pointed out, even though the cashflow/ROI/cap rate (take your pick) is higher on class C, they are a PITA to collect rent on.
My one exception is the tenant that I am eviciting now. The mistake I made with this tenant was not doing a good enough background check. I was distracted with life at the time and even though a red flag went up on her income verification I was wood by the previous landlords glowing recommendation and prospect of nabbing a long term tenant. She was self employed. So no pay stubs or W-2s. Instead I asked for last years tax return. Turns out it was bogus. I should have asked for bank statements too.
After renting for a year she stopped paying and has since provided me with a litany of excuses that I have heard all before. Unfortunately, in retrospect I made a second mistake, not evicting sooner (although I would argue that this is not always a mistake - see below). We gave her until the 15th and still no rent. I should have started the eviction process right then. She said before then end of the month. We stupidly said ok. Then the excuses/lies really started coming thick and fast. She said she mailed it this weekend because we didn't call her? even though we told her specifically not to mail it. (previous evicted tenant did the same thing). So I called her bluff and said to fax the cashier check stub. She said she would do it when she got home at 6pm. I told my partner that this was another deception and to go ahead and file that day. Sure enough, no fax was forthcoming because there was no cheque mailed I bet. (previous evicted tenant did the same thing). It is funny how they follow the same playbook.
So why do I think it was not a mistake to IMMEDIATELY evict her? I have covered this topic in the past but to summarize; I still have two good long term tenants because I let them pay 15 days late when they hit a bad patch instead of immediately terminating occupancy. Usually I trust my gut on this. This time I did not trust my gut.
