I do not accept prepaid rent because it is a sign that this renter may have issues, almost always has more problems when you run the background check. 

We filed eviction and he presented a forged note from the prior owner stating he had "prepaid for 6 months".  

Good Afternoon,I need some help in Understanding my options regarding a HELOC that I just got approved for , and am set to sign the Papers for this coming Monday The HELOC is for 20 years  and is a $20,000 Loan  ( the First 10 years is Interest Only and Last 10 years is when the Payments to payoff the Principal kicks in )I want to ask and see if my Future use with this HELOC makes sense and or can be done .............I want to use this Line of Credit for the DownPayment  (  20%  -  25%  ) /Rehab/Closing Costs/Pre-Paids for Each new Rental Property that I purchase and then Refinance into an Investment Property I Won't need the Full  $20,000  from the HELOC each time to use for the DownPayment/Rehab/Closing Costs/Pre-Paids for Each Rental, as i plan to use some of the Cash that I get from each Rental,  when I refinance them My main Question is:If I use this HELOC ONCE per year for the Costs it will take for Each Rental  ( DownPayment ( 20% - 25% ) /Rehab/Closing Costs/Pre-Paids  ) .....

@Kyle Rountree When you talk about "prorated rents" are you talking about security deposits or simply just prepaid rent for upcoming months.

@Mark BeneventoYou cannot legally accept prepaid rent in NJ.Google "NJ prepaid rent"+1 on what @Roy N. said!

In a perfect world, accepting prepaid or advance rent would be an advantage, but there are many dangers and pitfalls which should be considered before the decision is made to accept prepaid rent.

Do you want to pay points (prepaid interest) just to obtain the lowest rate up front? 

then don't close the loan... dail for dollars but pre paids are part of most of these deals.

When providing tenants with a Certificate of Rent paid, should I include this prepaid rent?  

Can be prepaid anytime without penalty.And here are the numbers for a single family house in Tampa, 3 bedroom, 2 bathrooms:Purchase price: 140,000 USD Down payment : 40,000 USDMortgage: 100,000 USDClosing fees: 7,000 USDRental income: 1350/month Maintenance + tax: 450/ monthMortgage: 600/ monthProperty management : 112.5 /monthCashflow: 187.5 USD/ Month => 2250 USD / YearCash on Cash Return: 4.78% (2,250/47,000)Considering that we are using levarage here I would expect a higher return.