Posted by SusanL–FL on October 08, 1999 at 09:48:21:
(didn’t get to finish yesterday)
The place was SO infested with roaches that Kenny wound up literally SOAKING the place down with some toxic, outdoor bug spray he bought at Home Depot.
Even went as far as removing the wall sockets to blast it in the walls.
It was awful…but BOY did it WORK! 
C-ya
At least quarterly inspections are needed! - Posted by Scott - (MO)
Posted by Scott - (MO) on October 05, 1999 at 16:12:21:
I just evicted a tenant after my annually inspection to find the apartment was trashed! The tenant really did not damage anything other than the carpet (may only need cleaning abd re-dyed) and a cheap door, but the place was a MESS and bugs EVERYWHERE!
Take a look at these pictures of this nightmare tenant at http://www.cardhost.com/leases/badtenant
Nice. Very nice. - Posted by Rob FL
Posted by Rob FL on October 06, 1999 at 10:28:02:
Lovely pictures. The first tenants I ever had lived like that. In fact, I still see them now and then (I raised their rent and they moved.) and they still live that way. Just dirty people. These were tenants I inherited when I bought the property. The roach crawling out of the mayonaise jar on the kitchen counter was the last straw for me. Of course I took all but $25 of their $450 deposit to clean the place up.
Nowadays, I keep tabs on my tenants by doing an informal walk-through when repairs become necessary. That way I can inspect the place without making it so obvious what I am doing.
Have fun with that cleanup job.
Gee, I wonder why there were BUGS?!?! - Posted by Jim IL
Posted by Jim IL on October 06, 1999 at 24:54:58:
Scott,
Just curious, but how did you screen this tenant?
Did you see where they lived prior to renting from you?
As a former cop, when I see a place like this, I think one of three things:
DRUG Addiction
Alcoholism
Mental Illness
and
Sometimes a combination of the above.
This is why we screen our tenants VERY thoroughly.
Once had an applicant ask “why do you want to run a criminal check on me?”
GUESS what? When we did, we found he had been in and out of jail many times for property damage crimes and drugs. Also found out he was on the local police dept. Gang list.
Wonder why he was “concerned” about the criminal check?
But, not being one to discriminate (plus he had the required CASH to put upfront!), I did go to his current home for a “final interview”. The place was a MESS, kinda like you showed us, but not so cluttered.
The amazing thing was the guy did not come back bad on the tenant report, and his credit was okay. He had NEVER been evicted!
Then again, rent at the “Gray bar hotel” is low, and it is almost impossible to get kicked out of there.
Thanks for showing us your pics. They were enlightening.
A stiff reminder to those of us who are renting to people.
SCREEN YOUR TENANTS!!!
You should keep those photos, and show them to people who say, “why should I seller finance or L/O to you?, Why should I not just rent it myself?”
WHIP OUT those photos and say, “Can you handle tenant nightmares?”
WE CAN!
Thanks,
Jim IL
Dirty Tenants - Posted by SusanL.–FL
Posted by SusanL.–FL on October 07, 1999 at 14:21:59:
We had one set of tenants who were DIRTY beyond belief! They destroyed the new wall-to-wall in the living room. They tore up the carpet and FLIPPED IT OVER and were walking on the back side of the carpet!!!
It looked like they had poured bacon grease all over/stained and greasy looking. A real mess. The scary part was they were both involved in food service at a local restaurant in town!!
Takes all kinds!
Re: Gee, I wonder why there were BUGS?!?! - Posted by andreaNC
Posted by andreaNC on October 06, 1999 at 22:30:40:
Jim,
Funny you mention you’re a former police officer. My first thought after viewing the pix was that there had been a raid on the place. Everything looks either upside down or half packed to get the heck out of Dodge.
I “inherited” a tenant like this the first of the year when I purchased a commercial property. This tenant was in the business of selling clothing but never opened until after 6pm when everything else downtown had closed. I received several phone calls from other merchants downtown (after acquiring the property) that there was suspicious activity at his store. I sent him a 3 day notice for inspection and low and behold… everything was upside down and trashed when I went in. It looked like he had made a mad dash out of the country!!! He did have the common courtesy to tape his key to the inside of the door for me!!!
My 2 cents…screen EVERYONE even the ones you acquire when you purchase with tenants in place.