Check everything thoroughly, that's your best defense against bad tenants.  

Sometimes the best offense is defense. 

if those get tied up based on his defense of "I bought this house," consider at that time whether pursuing the legal process is worth the candle (i.e. a lawsuit can get very expensive very fast and may simply cost too much when a $15,000 house is at stake). 

So you could go with your emotional response and get defensive with me when I try to give you some constructive feedback.

That is your first line of defense.

One of their specialties is communication breakdown.In SF this service is offered by “Community Boards” and I often referred clients to this organization when I was working in eviction defense.

Honestly this is all new to me and I got defensive when I should have immediately seen it for what it was.Thanks for the feedback. 

@Jasraj Singh I think cash flow is more of a defensive strategy - appreciation is where you can build some real wealth.Homes naturally appreciate over time but, with that said, the amount of appreciation is very market & location based.

However, until landlords and property managers work to educate tenants proactively, they will continue to get their training from 1. the media 2. wining friends and 3. tenant-defense attorneys.

He became defensive and said he had to pay bills.