Teaching Landlords to Find Their Quality Tenant!

I do see both sides, but as I just stated, even though I may ask the tenant prospect the question and will put some stock in their answer, I don’t automatically disqualify a lease breaker. Here’s why: Things happen in people’s lives. They fall in love and decide to cohabitate; they fall out of love and split up. They get divorced, become ill, and get transferred. A constantly changing economic climates might result in people suddenly finding themselves out of a job or unable to handle their bills anymore. Anyone of these could be a justifiable reason to break a lease.

Even if none of this happens, other problems can creep in. How about the new tenant in an apartment building who inconsiderately makes noise until 2:00 a.m. but unfortunately, shares a common dividing wall with another tenant who must begin the day at 5:00 a.m.? Or the neighbors who are inconsiderate to those around them with barking dogs, loud music, and other problems? These can also be sound reasons for breaking a lease.
And finally, tenants break leases because some landlords don’t live up to their end of a lease. Everyone has heard of stories where a tenant calls a landlord about a legitimate problem and weeks later, it still isn’t fixed, let alone looked at.

Put yourself in the tenant’s shoes: You’re three months into a one-year lease, but the new neighbor’s dog keeps you awake, or your spouse left you, or you lost your job, or you’re tired of lighting the hot water heater morning, noon, and night. When you’re in any of these situations, with nine months left on your lease, each day is torture. The fact is, many people break leases and often for some very good reasons

Personally, because there are so many justifiable reasons for breaking a lease, I’ve adopted the attitude that if tenants feel they gotta go, they gotta go. I feel if they stayed and were miserable because I pressured them to stay, they would probably make my life miserable as well, perhaps in hopes that I’d eventually ask them to leave. Even though my absolute first choice is to not have to deal with a broken lease, I’d rather have a broken lease than live day to day with a problem or unhappy tenant.

However, many landlords feel that if someone broke a lease in the past, then there is a good chance they will break one with you. I can appreciate that line of thought and do not want to change your line of thinking. After all, profitable landlording really boils down to keeping the rental rented with the least amount of turnover possible.

What I am trying to do is not to automatically rule out every lease breaker that comes you way (though if they have done it more than once, I say move on to the next prospect). Instead, when you are interviewing someone who has broken a lease, I would always recommend that you hear the story of why the lease was broken (more on interviewing on my articles page at http://www.findthatqualitytenant.com).

As you listen to the story, try to figure out if it is truthful and sincere. Listen to see if it fits the personality you’ve determined of your caller. Above all, listen to see if you think it is legit. Then you can make your decision about the lease breaking. Of course, it goes without saying you will ask the previous landlord about the situation when you follow up on their application.

For the record, let me state that I’ve had tenants break their leases and most if not all the one who did, did so for pretty good reasons. I’m aware that some landlords will disagree with me and never look at a tenant prospect who has previously broken a lease. If you are one of those people, I don’t want to change your mind. I can understand your reasoning. Please do what is best for you. courtesy of www.findthatqualitytenant.com

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