Drug dealers, burglars, robbers, muggers, rapists, murderers– as landlords we hate them. We don’t want them living in, visiting or illegally entering our rental properties. We want them to feel absolutely unwelcome.
Trouble is, too often it appears, at least, that we put out the welcome mat, dust it off, and shine it up for the entire reprehensible lot of them. We do it by providing an setting for committing crime that they love.
How do we do that? By making it easy for them to rent from us, by not working to make our properties more secure, and by providing places for these miscreants to skulk while they lie in wait to commit crimes.
To avoid that, let’s look at what bad guys hate, and then do a lot of it and do it well. If they hate the things we do that make it difficult to commit crimes, they won’t come around. Rather they will inflict themselves on a property and its tenants who look like they have thrown out the welcome mat.
One thing they hate is having to work hard at committing crime. If they wanted to work, they would have gotten a job. The majority of crimes are committed simply because someone left a door unlocked, an item outside, or evidence of valuable items inside. . In fact, when criminals commit such crimes of “opportunity” they blame the victim, saying the victim was “asking for it.” Because the crime was so easy, the criminal believes it is your fault, that he isn’t responsible at all. Go figure.
Avoid this problem by doing a crime and safety survey of your rental properties. Your police department probably has a crime prevention office that will is eager to share checklists and other ideas for making your properties places that bad guys hate. Apartment and landlord associations also often have similar information. Then, as the security professionals say, harden your target.
Another thing bad guys hate is strict rental standards. They seek out landlords to rent from who don’t care much who they rent to as long as they get the rent. Problem is, not only do bad guys commit crimes on and around the property where they rent, they also may get caught and have to go to jail (moving without notice, so to speak), so no rent. They also may figure that if you were sucker enough to rent to them, they don’t need to pay any rent. After all, it’s your fault for letting them move in in the first place.
Avoid that by inserting in your rental policies and standards–the sheet of paper that you hand all applicants– a clause that reads much like this:
Your application will be rejected if we receive a reference from a present or previous landlord which reports that you:
—were gambling, engaging in prostitution, drug dealing, or manufacturing drugs
—were violent or made threats to the landlord or to neighbors
—any member of your household was convicted of a felony in the past 10 years.
—any member of your household is a current illegal substance abuser, or has ever been convicted of the illegal manufacture or distribution of a controlled substance.
Many times the mere mention of your not accepting crooks as tenants will send them on their way. Even so, some will try anyway, so it is vital that you actually go through the process of checking landlord references and public records to make sure that your applicant is not a bad guy.
Do all that and the bad guys will hate it. They’ll find a landlord who’s an easy target. After all, you’d sure hate it if they rented from you or used your property to commit crimes.
