I have a young couple with a young baby and a dog. Income and credit is good and they like the apartment. However, they claim bad luck in two previous rental situations. In one case, a mouse infestation occurred on the first floor of the apartment building they were living in and they moved after seven months. They got another place shortly thereafter and turned in the keys, walked away and never moved in after discovering roaches in the apartment. They've been living with their parents in the interim. It could be that there were legitimately pest problems, but my concern is that I might have a picky tenant with a short tenancy here particularly since this seems to have occurred twice and their emphasis on wanting a "clean" place. On the other hand, if they're clean freaks in a good way, then my place should be kept up. Thoughts?

Nope, hard pass.

1) You don't know if their stories are legit, and there's really no way to know for sure even if you contact the prior landlords. It's all "he said, she said" at this point.

2) Even if their stories are legit, they didn't handle it the right way. There are remedies for tenants to take to get out of a lease if there are unaddressed, legitimate reasons why the place is not habitable and/or the landlord isn't fulfilling their end of the deal. They chose not to take those remedies and just left someone else holding the bag.

They will treat you the same as they treated previous LLs. This is why I advise any tenant if they have a beef with their landlord, follow the proper steps, and if it doesn't work out then just don't renew your lease. Tough it through if you must, but never, EVER just walk away from a lease obligation.

Always be the bigger person in any adversarial relationship. It may cost you; it may frustrate you; but ultimately it builds your character and wisdom when you do things the right way.

Come to think of it, that's good advice for life in general.

As they say::

Once is an incident

Twice may be a co-incidence

Three times is pre meditated enemy action

Do you feel lucky ???

Well do ya. .???

No.

I understand their bug and mouse issue with the small child to care for and they can easily return to parents. I had one who didn't move into another persons' rental as there was a chair in the unit and they had not removed it on her move in day. She came back and rented my unit and what a pain she was. Always complaining about something insignificant, moved boyfriend in, took over my front yard and made a mess. What is it about your unit that you know, that might cause them to do the same thing? Traffic noise? Neighbor noise? If nothing then take them.

G,

I like Sisco's reminder that these folks will take the place the good resident you want.

Keep marketing like a crazy person to get more apps and better odds of finding a "normal" renter.

MEANWHILE make certain you have legit evidence to DQ them.

Just for fun I like to dig deeper intotheir app and usually find this was the tip of the iceberg.

Don't let them bring down you ship.