We have been renting homes for over 15 years and in that time have had dozens of GREAT tenants.  In fact, some of them have been renting from us the entire 15 years and others have rented one house, moved away, and rented a second house after moving back into the area.

We’ve also had some tenants that were not so great….but then we’ve had some tenants that were just BAD — individuals that deserve to be on our ‘Tenant Wall of Shame‘ by skipping out on back rent or wrecking the house or both.

Credit and Tenant Reporting Disclosure

Landlords engaged in the rental of housing and collection of rent may report and share positive and negative payment information with credit bureaus, tenant reporting agencies, other landlords and financial institutions.

We make full use of this Disclosure and may report various tenant and credit information to national tenant and credit reporting bureaus including but not limited to Experian, TransUnion, Equifax, The Landlord Protection Agency and The National Tenant Rating Bureau.  A positive or negative posting may be added to your credit report record in the event that you fail to fulfill the terms of your credit or rental obligations by any/all of the following factors:

• Rent payment record and/or delinquent balance owed
• Cleanliness and upkeep of rental unit
• Overall tenant performance and cooperation

If you’ve ever had brushes with any of these circumstances in the past, save us both a lot of time, anxiety and money and move along to a different housing option.  We’re not a good fit.

After getting several months behind on rent, they willingly moved out.  A judgement was filled and they were ordered by the court to pay back rent and damages (totaling over $6,000) immediately.  We instead agreed to allow them to pay it in court-ordered installments.  They set the amount that they comfortably could afford – $200/month.  Unfortunately, the payments stopped coming in less than a year and a sizable balance remains in judgement against them.

These two win the award for the amount of damage done in only one year….and the level of two-faced actions.  When they applied, they talked themselves about how responsible and clean they were….Ali even saying his “faith” would not allow him to do anything other than strict faithfulness to our lease agreement.

In less than a year they had fallen behind on rent and when they were removed the house was completely trashed.  New carpets when they moved in were literally black with dirt and grime.  They had to have lived like pigs and were keeping multiple pets (without agreement).  They were taken to court and liens filed against them.  Despicable.

Dumpster full of trash

Evicted twice!  Yes, it took two evictions to get them out (all while they were not paying rent).  Of course, when they finally did leave they left a mess behind – an entire dumpster full of trash and debris.   There’s no ‘Good Housekeeping’ award for these folks with the trash left behind, roach infestation, new carpets (again) completely destroyed, holes in the walls, and appliances completely disgusting (we just had to trash them).

Microwave (never cleaned)

There were also lots of stories from the neighbors about these two during their sixteen months in the house.  The saddest part about these two is the two young boys in their care. Finally, they apparently have not changed and continue to leave a ‘trail of tears’ behind them as we have received calls and letters from collectors, different companies, and utilities — all in the years since we got rid of them.

This is actually a story of a true con-artist.  Jennifer showed up with her mom, Jacqueline Smith-Carroll.  They “were looking for a place for her mom to live” and made it quite clear it was just for her alone (and completed the lease accordingly).  Of course, after visiting the house a couple of times after “her mom moved in”, it was clear that Jennifer was actually living there.  That was the first lie and breach of contract. It only took a few months for rent to stop coming.  Eviction was quick and Jennifer disappeared.

Of course, her mom was on the lease and the one officially evicted.  During the eviction, it was discovered that her mom’s permanent residence was actually just a few miles away.  Sad how a child can take advantage of the parent.