I know not typical on here to have such a little amount in loans but we enjoy great cash flow that we live on, have lots of flexibility in what we can do and have no concern about making payments if the economy were to take a dump.

So, if you're concerned about Socialism taking hold, diversifying your portfolio by including real estate may offer protection and help you sleep better at night.

However, a lot of concerns can be mitigated with looking at their past rental behavior in a lot of different settings.

Our biggest climate risks in central Texas are typically wind and hail, so anything of concern regarding the roof could get an applicant declined including trees too close to the roof surface, roof over 10 years old, etc.

I'm not saying the list is ridiculous,  because all safety concerns should be addressed.

I have not been concerned about negative cash flowing due to gaining so much equity. 

Given your concerns about California’s high prices and tenant laws, exploring out-of-state markets is a great idea, especially for rookie landlords.Oklahoma is worth considering!

It only happened once, so you have no evidence that this is anything but an honest mistake that's been corrected.The bigger concern is the 583 credit score, because it shows a pattern of financial mismanagement.

I also have the text logs, since I stopped talking to him on the phone so that we would have a record of his communication with us concerning the rent.  

So we didn't have an option, we were a bit concerned that guests would want Cable TV, but we couldn't do anything about it.