Tell-Tale Signs Of A Bad Tenant

Despite most tenants being reasonable people, there will always be a small group of bad tenants. While the tenancy agreement can protect the landlord, it is generally more tedious and costly to enforce the terms of the agreement. Therefore, prevention is always better than cure.

How do you tell if a tenant is bad, or has a high risk of becoming rogue? Generally, undesirable tenants are broadly classified into two groups:

1. Obvious
2. Less obvious

Obviously Bad Tenant

As the name suggests, an obvious bad tenant is easy to tell. Some of the common traits of an obvious bad tenant include being rude, arrogant, disrespectful, demanding, and unreasonable. The bad tenant may exhibit any one of these traits, or exhibit them in any combination during the initial engagement and negotiation of the terms of the tenancy.

This type of bad tenant often makes unreasonable demands such as a long rent-free period, despite your full awareness that they will not be doing any renovation of your property upon taking over. An obvious bad tenant also tends to refuse to compromise despite the landlord giving in on some grounds during negotiation on terms of lease.

Example 1

Tenant asks for 2 months rent-free for a one-year lease and insists to enjoy the rent-free before the lease commences.

Example 2

Tenant insists on renting the property at a discounted rate for one year. Landlord accepts the tenant's offer at a discounted rate. Subsequently, the tenant demands that the landlord renovates the property according to his design and provides brand new furniture.

When you encounter an obviously bad tenant, it is better to walk away and leave your property vacant than renting to the bad tenant and endure the nightmare of having to deal with him for the rest of the lease tenure.

Less Obvious Bad Tenant

A less obvious bad tenant seems like a very nice person without any unreasonable requests during the negotiation process. However, after the tenancy commences, the tenant starts to find fault with the property or the landlord and becomes demanding and unreasonable. This kind of scenario often occurs when the terms of the agreement are not explained clearly to the tenant, leading to misunderstanding later on. Usually, the tenant will also feel that he is on the receiving end of a bad deal.

Thus, it is paramount for the landlord or the agent to explain to the tenant the terms of the tenancy agreement. The clauses in the tenancy agreement must also avoid any ambiguities to minimise the chances of a future dispute.

Conclusion

Regardless of a good tenant or a bad tenant, the more detailed the tenancy agreement is drafted and explained to the tenant, the better your chances of having good nights' sleep. A lax tenancy agreement is like a meat placed at the mouth of the lion's den, waiting for the lion to shred it into pieces and leaving nothing behind.