Lies, Damn Lies, and Tenants

I have nothing against tenants in the general sense. Heck, I was a tenant for most of my adult life, so I know what it's like to be one. Most are hard working, honest people who don't have the where-with-all to be homeowners (or, they can, but either don't want to or don't know they can be). However, after being a landlord now for going on 4 years, I guess I've had my fair share of both - mostly the bad ones. Looking back, here is how I would rate the tenants I've had:

Tenant #1: A+ ... I got lulled into thinking landlording was a piece of cake with these tenants. Always paid a week before the rent was due, and the only "problem" I had with them was a couple of minor HOA violations.

Tenant #2: C- ... Probably the run-of-the-mill tenants. Paid on time for the most part, but then they started to pay late. After putting the gravel down, they straightened up for a month or two, but then said they could no longer rent as they were going to buy a house. Ironically, about a year later, the house they bought was being foreclosed on and he asked if he could rent from me again. NOT!

Tenant #3: D- ... The only reason I didn't give this tenant an "F" is because she left the place in decent shape. Terrible in almost every definition of the word. Late every month, left unpaid utility bills when she finally left, lied through her teeth every time we would talk with her, and so on. I finally told her to just leave and I wouldn't file suit against her. I held my breath walking in the door after she left as I thought for sure she was going to damage the place. Thankfully, she didn't.

Tenant #4: C- ... These people are in-between the last two tenants. They've been late almost every month, but end up paying the late fees. My wife also told me over the weekend that they have written us FIVE bad checks. I thought it was only three now, but she says two others they called and told her not to deposit as they didn't have the funds to cover them, so they were bad as well. They have two more months left on their lease, so we'll see what happens. They've already expressed interest in signing a new lease, but that ain't gonna happen.

Tenant #5: A- ... Very good with paying, but a little nit-picky about stuff. However, the nits aren't anything I can't handle, and I'd take a responsible-paying tenant any day over someone who likes to nit-pik.

So, out of 5 tenants I've had, three of them (or 60%) were not so good and two have been excellent. I attribute much of this to careful screening, but I also notice something else that differentiates the two types: prior home ownership. Not just that they've owned a home before, but they were in good standing while owning the home. This to me reflects on responsibility. They were responsible enough to pay their mortgage, and thus, they are responsible when paying their landlord. So, for now on when I screen, I am going to give that criteria a little more focus.