When you prescreen someone, hold that prescreen to the fire.

Do not waiver. Do not make exceptions. Do not feel guilty about doing so.

People will play whatever game they have to play in order to win for themselves. They do not care if you are a nice guy/gal or not. They will pretend to all the while with a plan of great deception. Humans are slime and treat each other with disrespect. They cheat, steal, lie, deceive, ect....Do not feel sorry for the sleaseball tenants. Watch carefully of the picture they paint for you as they are not real. Use caution in your screening and be firm. Always remember there is a cheat applying. They will suck the life out of you. Wrath has no fury like a LL's scorn. Burn them in the pits of ####.

Screen on,

1. Every deadbeat has a story, don’t give them a listening ear.

2. Look for a reason to deny, not a reason to approve. As soon as one singular reason is found to deny, move on to the next.

Nothing makes a person more cynical than being a landlord. We are the ones who get to see all the lying, cheating, and bad behavior. In decades of being a landlord, I had exactly one tenant who never lied to me about anything and a second one that probably told lies, but I never caught one from him.

Over a third of my applicants have an outrageous outright lie on their applicant. The rest of them are usually lying about something that is more difficult to catch.

My tenants are all pretty good, pay the rent, take good care of the house, are generally easy to work with, and still they lie to me about something or another.

Awww shucks, and I've so many folks say we don't need God to have morality because (and I quote!), "Most people are basically good."

*grins

People who say such things are not landlords, law enforcement officers, or know any divorce lawyers.

I believe what I experience daily, and while there are many good folks, there are also many who won't lose one second to shame over lying to you for their own advantage. We live in an affluent nation where even the poor have all their needs provided if they will make a basic effort like showing up to fill out the right Govt forms. This leaves a lot of room for envy and resentment. It's okay to lie, cheat, and steal if you have less than others, or at least that's how the narrative goes.

Anyway, yes... I'm off the soap box. "Screen 3x effort" per RB. I still advocate for the All Calls Go to Voicemail. Think about it: most major businesses you call do not put you directly in touch with the owner. At best you get a secretary, but often you get voicemail and/or a callback appointment. Time-wasters and cheats need a human to wheedle. Don't you be that human! Let them hear your VM instructions on how to fill out a prescreening form. If they won't do that, it's not going to work for me. No exceptions. If an applicant won't follow my instructions now, there's not a snowball's chance in Death Valley that they'll follow my procedure when they're tenants.

BINGO, Sid.

Screen x 3, by putting in the time and effort.

Sid, Ha!

They aren't parents either

6x6: it sounds like you had a really bad day.

Screening is not perfect, you will have false negatives and false positives. But consider the costs of each

If you deny an applicant who would actually be a great tenant, you have lost nothing except a longer vacancy

If you accept an applicant who ends up being a terrible tenants you have headaches, costs and eviction.

[[[[......so many folks say .......... "Most people are basically good.".......]]]]]]]

I grew up believing that. Middle class family, middle class, neighborhood, middle class school. Although if I think back about it honestly, all the people around me lied all the time. They lied to their parents about where they were and who they were seeing. My schoolmate broke traffic laws and alcohol laws, and some of them shoplifted. They lied about their home work and school assignments and they cheated on tests. Now the kids are just getting their essay and term paper assignments by copying from the internet, which is even more lazy and dishonest..