Who Are the Worst Kind of Tenants?

Being a landlord is a very unique line of work. You see how people behave behind closed doors. There’s a lot you can tell about a person by the way they conduct themselves during and how they leave a tenancy. Sometimes tenants can take lease of your property and really care for it. Other times, landlords are not so lucky. So who are the worst kind of tenants? We decided to take a look and offer some wisdom that’ll hopefully help you from taking in any undesirable individuals.

We’ll start by explaining that we aren’t going to write about any horror stories. There are some really nasty experiences that have been spoken about online. In fact, if you’re interested read this r/AskReddit thread where landlords explain their worst tenant stories. In this article, we’ll look closer at the generalised tenant groups that should be avoided if you want an easy life. We must warn you, these are generalisations and stereotypes. You should scrutinise your prospective tenants fully before allowing them to move in.

The Party Animal

If you’re a landlord in a student area, you’ve probably come across this type of tenant. This individual just wants to party all the time. This can even be during the week, when neighbours have to wake up early for work. Sometimes the party animal will bring recreational drugs into your property which can pose a big issue. The loud music, frequent visits from friends and regular mess can often be a real pain for landlords. It’s difficult to tell the party animal tenant from others but students regularly fall into this demographic.

The Animal Lovers

It’s not unusual for a prospective tenant to ask whether pets are allowed in the property. In fact, this is quite a responsible question. It is unfortunately a common occurrence for tenants to ignore a landlord’s response. One of the most frustrating things for a landlord is to enter the property after a tenant has left to find it smelling of animals. Often the people who ignore a landlord’s wish for no pets are those who do not necessarily take much care of their animals. This can result in a fierce smell, nasty stains and lots of hair.

The Extended Family

This is a really tough one. We’ve heard of situations before when a couple view a property, sign the rental agreement but convert your one bedroom flat into a living area for them and their entire family. The issues this causes go far beyond what you may initially expect. Wear and tear becomes far more apparent, the property smells and often there’s a general lack of respect for your investment. Sometimes there is a conversion process which means your living room space is no longer a living room. IF your property is furnished, this can be particularly costly.

The Wannabee Lawyers

This can be one of the most frustrating tenants to come up against. This tenant is usually fresh out of university or only recently in professional employment. They have an ingrained opinion that landlords don’t play by the rules. They will scrutinise every move you make to ensure it’s by the book. They will talk to you as if you don’t know the law or your own profession. Once they’ve moved out, if you find a genuine reason to detract from their deposit, they’ll refuse and enter into legal proceedings. These will be both costly and time consuming.

The Chronic Late Payers

You never truly know whether you’ll get a chronic late payer. These tenants disguise themselves well. Sometimes late payments can develop for genuine and honest reasons, sometimes tenants can just try their luck. You must look at things from a business perspective, this is your livelihood after all. When arrears mount up and it’s affecting your everyday life, you need to take action.

If you’re a landlord and have encountered nasty deposit disputes before you’ll know how disruptive it can be. Take a look at No Letting Go’s inventory services to see how we can remove this stress from the lettings process.

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