Most small dog owners actually let their dog poop indoors cuz walking them is time consuming and so after potty training the owners never move onto walking training.

Sometimes you can't even get it back if the parties involved were found to be innocent of all charges- especially if the police auction occurs between the time your property is seized and the charges are dropped.Often times it's impossible to get your property back- especially if it's something valuable like a nice car or an airplane because of the roadblocks thrown up by complicated paperwork.Drug busts are huge money-makers for police departments because they get to keep or sell everything they seize including but not limited to any cash laying around, weapons (even legal ones!)

The tenant if now faced with getting rid of a "family member" , moving out after they just moved in, or  $50 per month of pet rent.This sounds like a possible money maker for you.Just a suggestion to round out the great advice you've already received.

Also, I now leave a bottle of that indoor/outdoor safe-for-kids-and-pets insect spray that's supposed to stop bugs for months but usually needs more frequent applications, and tell them they can spray around the perimeter if they want to when it starts getting warm outside and the bugs start showing up and that it should last them all season.  

In such cases, if the drafter of the contract writes an unfair clause, which unreasonably benefits the maker of the contract, the court may throw it out.Especially, if they did a high-pressure sales job and kept saying, don't worry about it, it's standard procedure, blah blah.A first-time landlord investing out of state on a limited time to find a manager, and an unreasonable ability to sue that person because of having to travel to another state to do so, could very well be considered the "weaker" party to such a contract.In my ever-so-humble opinion. :-)But, hey, this is why there are two lawyers in a courtroom, right?

A guarantor simply guarantees payment, nothing more and before any guarantee might be enforced the vendor must exhaust all prudent collection efforts from the maker of that obligation before making demands.  

You can have higher standards, you also have market influences to deal with and your standards must be consistent and fair.There are really good Sec 8 and PHA tenants, not all are down and out trouble makers, that is where your experience and knowledge come into play, nothing says you must accept a Sec 8 tenant, it says they get the same chance to lease as everyone else....and that is if your property meets requirements too.

Also, make your smoking policy cover the entire premises, meaning don't allow smoking indoors or outside.

I still have the homes, and its a good money maker. 

BTW:  The only legal way to do this is to have the maker of the check write the words:  "Void Until" above the date they write on the check.stephen------------ Originally posted by @Niles Crum:I just rented a home to a tenant who did not quite meet my income requirements.