When It’s Okay to Evict a Tenant

By E-Renter Tenant Screening
Posted on January 15, 2010 under Eviction, Tenant Screening & Background Checks | icon: commentBe the First to Comment

On this site, we’ve covered the importance of clear rental agreements and leases a dozen times or more. And we’ve stated that the relationship between landlord and tenant is strictly a business one. Never does that distinction become more important than when it’s time to evict a tenant.
Even landlords who choose tenants very wisely, who run all the right credit checks and background screening checks, and who have good, professional relationships with their tenants will face the inevitable eviction soon or later. And, if that landlord is a compassionate person, he or she might not feel good about doing it.
This economy has made it tough for everyone. Tenants are losing jobs and landlords are having a hard time filling rental vacancies—there’s no doubt the business has changed drastically over the past year. But even in this economy, landlords must look at eviction as a business decision—hard as that can be.
Is it okay to evict a tenant in this terrible job and rental market? The answer is “yes.” If you’re in doubt, pull out the rental or lease agreement. Read it over. Check off the terms and conditions that your tenant has failed to honor. Remind yourself that when your tenant signed that lease agreement, he or she agreed to abide by each of those terms and conditions. And they agreed that if they broke the agreement, you had the right to take action, including eviction.
You took a chance that the tenant would uphold their end of the bargain, just as you performed all the duties you agreed to. In approving this tenant, you conducted your due diligence, mitigated your risk through tenant screening, and verified employment and credit worthiness. Though it was based in smart business practices, you still took a chance.
When it turns out that the tenant and you both made a mistake in entering into the agreement, then choosing to evict is okay. When it turns out that, despite the best efforts on both sides, the terms of the rental agreement cannot be upheld by the tenant, then choosing to evict is okay. Making the best business decision you can when a tenant breaks the rental agreement is okay.
This is just one reason a strong rental or lease agreement is the foundation of every landlord/tenant relationship.

eviction image on tenantscreeningblog.comOn this site, we’ve covered the importance of clear rental agreements and leases a dozen times or more. And we’ve stated that the relationship between landlord and tenant is strictly a business one. Never does that distinction become more important than when it’s time to evict a tenant.

Even landlords who choose tenants very wisely, who run all the right credit checks and background screening checks, and who have good, professional relationships with their tenants will face the inevitable eviction soon or later. And, if that landlord is a compassionate person, he or she might not feel good about doing it.

This economy has made it tough for everyone. Tenants are losing jobs and landlords are having a hard time filling rental vacancies—there’s no doubt the business has changed drastically over the past year. But even in this economy, landlords must look at eviction as a business decision—hard as that can be.

Is it okay to evict a tenant in this terrible job and rental market? The answer is “yes.” If you’re in doubt, pull out the rental or lease agreement. Read it over. Check off the terms and conditions that your tenant has failed to honor. Remind yourself that when your tenant signed that lease agreement, he or she agreed to abide by each of those terms and conditions. And they agreed that if they broke the agreement, you had the right to take action, including eviction.

You took a chance that the tenant would uphold their end of the bargain, just as you performed all the duties you agreed to. In approving this tenant, you conducted your due diligence, mitigated your risk through tenant screening, and verified employment and tenant credit history. Though it was based in smart business practices, you still took a chance.

When it turns out that the tenant and you both made a mistake in entering into the agreement, then choosing to evict is okay. When it turns out that, despite the best efforts on both sides, the terms of the rental agreement cannot be upheld by the tenant, then choosing to evict is okay. Making the best business decision you can when a tenant breaks the rental agreement is okay.

This is just one reason a strong rental or lease agreement is the foundation of every landlord/tenant relationship.

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