Smokers are not protected in Federal Fair Housing act as said previously. 

The federal law states you cannot knowingly harbor an illegal immigrant and that you may be punished for doing so.

Generally speaking, in my experience the more governments exercise their power, the more power they want to exercise in the future.

because its the government's money and goddamn they will get it.In that situation, you are ultimately responsible for the water bill, with the ability to seek reimbursement from the tenant on your own.

I have pretty stringent requirements, but I keep my marketing pretty short and simple.General requirements:All occupants 18+ must apply and be approved$30 application fee per personSubmit a government-issued picture IDProve combined income of 3x monthly rentI have occupancy limits.

Usually this has to do with whether the utility is provided by a government entity.

As far as I'm concerned it's property confiscation with the government taking property from an owner and giving it to a tenant.  

and NMLS is a major pain for smaller HML we have to do what's called a mortgage call report quarterly and think of a government backed website.. and just think how hard that is for guys of my vintage to negotiate I never get it right I always have deficiencies from the state.. and I spend at least an hour on the help line.

The federal government has given Texas a few billion dollars to hand out to landlords who are having these types of tenant issues.  

Get List of Properties and Verify properties that have homes on themWrite out list of homes interested in Verify Parcel # on Tax List and Parcel # on sites like Zillow is the same (information checks out)View Parcel # on County Parcel Map to check lot lines of Parcel #Use Melissa.com to find out owner and cross reference with County Tax Deed List’s OwnerCheck County Records for LIENS on Owner(s) (All government tax liens stay with property)Check County Records for any other potential problems, judgments, or problemsCheck Zillow Tax History for potential Mella Roos or extraordinary tax issuesCheck Zillow for HOA fees, rental value, potential market valueDRIVE BY interested properties AND Neighborhood to get an ideaASSESS condition of roof and outside of home (also any clues to inside, fires, etc)DETERMINE estimated costs to fix home (and insides) and exit planFind out if owners have filed for bankrupcy?