Landlords can avoid tenant problems with a careful screening, a solid rental or lease agreement, and quick action if a problem develops, experts advise.
“I’ve seen several tenants evicted numerous times,” said Salinas, Calif., attorney Frank J. Noll. “It’s an example of the landlord not doing his homework in advance.”
Bob T. Uemura, a Salinas attorney who has represented landlords for 17 years, agreed: “The biggest problem is that landlords do not check the background of their prospective tenants.”
Noll and his partner, Kenneth C. Husby, have specialized in evictions for 20 years, and average about 20 evictions a month.
Uemura counts among his clients Costal Monterey Properties, the county’s largest private landlord. Uemura averages between 10 and 20 evictions a month.
The most common reason tenants are evicted is for non-payment of rent, Uemura said, though there are other reasons, including having loud parties, illegal pets and cohabitants who are not on the lease or rental agreement.
The average, uncontested eviction will cost a landlord about $500, Noll said, and the landlord should have his property back within a month.
“I’ve done it as quick as 17 days,” said Uemura, “but you have to be on top of it.” A small percentage–about 20 percent–will fight the eviction, he said. When that happens, it could be months before the landlord recovers the property.
Tenants will go to the California Rural Legal Assistance group, who assist them in learning how to delay the eviction, Uemura said.
“In most cases they have no valid defense,” he said.
“Monterey is very speedy” in processing evictions when compared to other counties in California, Noll said.
Compared with other states, California evictions are a lengthy process, Noll said. In Nevada, where Noll represents clients, a tenant can be evicted in four days.
“Good landlords pay for the abuses of bad landlords,” Noll said.
“The most important thing is to have a good application, one that asks all the right questions, and that it is completed and you follow through pursuing the information on the application,” advised Steve Gorman, a Pacific Grove property manager.
Check the current and prior landlord, he advised, because the current landlord might be trying to get rid of a bad tenant.
One question to ask former landlords, Gorman said, is: “Would you rent to this person again?”
Getting references, doing a credit check, checking with the prospective tenant’s employer and verifying salary information are all important, Gorman said. “If you start seeing inconsistencies, if the dates and incomes on the application don’t match what you’re being told, that’s a red flag.”
“If they’re defensive about things or are overly aggressive,” Gorman said, or if a tenant is curt or terse, or you feel there’s a personality clash, don’t rent to them.
“Life’s too short to be dealing with people you wouldn’t want to deal with on a monthly basis,” Gorman said.
“Get a strong lease (or rental) agreement,” he said, “one that’s better than the standard one-page agreement.” Be certain it conforms to current law.
“The tenant doesn’t intend for problems to happen,” Gorman said. “The problems I’ve found are when you don’t have good communication with the resident from the beginning about who’s responsible for what.”
With the housing market so tight, landlords should take their time and get the best tenants. “It allows us to be careful and not make the mistake of renting to the first person who walks in the door,” Gorman said.
“It you ask the landlord, they’ll say the system is against them, and if you ask the tenant, they’ll say the system is against them. I think the legislature has tried to strike a balance,” Uemura said.
