Vetting Tenants — How we protect the landlord’s interests.

In Occoquan Forest, our management staff wants to work with reasonable tenants. Here are a few of the traits we expect.

1. A tenant pays the rent on time every time. This means paying on or before the first, rather than at 5 pm on the 5th.
2. A tenant is trustworthy. A tenant does not sneak in a co-tenant or pet.
3. A renter is reasonably clean. A tenant does not attract pests like rodents and bugs.
4. A renter does not break the property.
5. A tenant is courteous and easy to work with. A renter knows the difference between a property manager and a hotel concierge.
6. A tenant doesn't disturb neighbors.
7. A tenant complains when appropriate. Renters that don't report maintenance issues cost landlords money and cause head-aches for property managers.
8. A renter doesn't complain when it's not appropriate. This means that a renter doesn't demand to replace functioning systems. A renter doesn't expect more than the lease provides. A tenant doesn't complain that an appliance doesn't work when the renter doesn't know how to operate the appliance.
9. A tenant does not smoke in the home.
10. A renter is looking for a rental term that is as long as the property owner wants to rent the home.

So this is what we're looking for in a tenant, but how do we find renters who measure up to this ideal? Experience has taught us that troublesome tenants can appear as polite, nicely-dress, well educated people with jobs. We have a knack for sniffing out unreasonable renters.