Question about property destruction (apartment, tenant, eviction, renters)

[rlrl]

When i am on this board I see quite frequently concerns that a tenant might destroy an apartment upon leaving when they left on bad terms for whatever reason

Tho I admittedly am not a good housekeeper (I was charged a $250 cleaning fee deducted from my deposit when i left my old apt but I did leave it in broom clean condition), even if i somehow incurred the wrath of a landlord who didn't like me for whatever reason, I would never dream of trashing or destroying an apartment upon leaving. Worst could be that i didn't have time to put the floors in the same condition they were in when i moved in or the flimsy tiles cracked due to the dry condition inside the apt

How is this destruction accomplished? Why do they do this? Do many tenants take it out on a landlord by trashing property? Or by destruction do you mean a tenant who leaves frantically leaves a mess or causes damage by moving out quickly?

Other than my poor housekeeping skills I live a very conservative disciplined lifestyle and I could not imagine trashing a place, doing so in the event of dislike on the part of a landlord would only work against me in the end

Does this mean there is a certain element that rents and will destroy? this is hard to picture

[fallingwater]

My mother and I owned a rental together. It was a nightmare. First off we sucked at it. If there is a list of what not to do as a landlord, we filled it. We had no intentions of being landlords it just happened as we could not sell the house in this market.

We rented the place out twice and both tenants ended up leaving our rental a mess. The first tenant was completely bizarre. She only lived in the house 5 weeks! She didnt turn on any utilities and the neighbor called me one day to let me know she had a moving van in the driveway. She was moving out in a hurry. The neighbor who I had a good friendship with parked his truck in front of the driveway blocking her in. She called me and asked if I knew the neighbor as she needed to leave for work. I said really, I hear you are moving out. She was pretty shocked and confessed that she needed to leave and gave me this long list of excuses. Personal stuff like her ex bf's mother was stalking her and this was going on and that...The woman was a nut. Since she had been a nightmare from day two (refusing to get the utilities turned on in her name, taking in a dog when I said no etc etc), I told her to get out. When I went to the house it was hit. I was in complete awe how someone could trash a house in as little as 5 weeks.

The carpet was trashed, she ripped the oak banister off the stairs moving her bed out, everything was filthy. She left a bunch of junk behind, walls had odd stains on them and the best part the whole place was infested with fleas. As soon as you walked in the house you see and feel them crawling all over you.

So it took us a couple of months to get the house back into shape. We find another idiot, he stopped paying and we sent eviction papers. Same thing, moved out in a hurry. This guy did bigger damage. He busted the cast iron sink in the kitchen. I have no idea how. Didnt even think it was possible. He wrote all over the mirrors with a black sharpie. Just like a little kid would do. He wrote odd sayings and pictures of stuff. The house was filled with empty liquor and beer bottles. The carpet was hit. We tried to sue him and found out he had several lawsuits pending.

That was enough for us. We are not landlord material. We put the house up as a short sale and took the hit. I have no idea why someone would trash a rental. All I can say is a person that cares only about themself and lack intelligence.

[jkiss]

I just don't know why people do those things either. We have rented and we have owned. We treat every place we live as if it were our own. I once had a neighbor who lived upstairs and she let her 2 little kids ride their trikes around the living room and down the hall. They did it everyday for who knows how long and totally ruined the carpet. Totally a waste! I have a sister who destroys everyplace she rents also and my own mother doesn't "get" it that a cat ripping a screen open is not normal wear and tear. I don't get why people don't want to be proud of where they live and take care of it.

[casper324]

I would be willing to tell you how trashing is accomplished as I am living through it now, but I don't want to give any bad tenants any ideas!

[chet everett]

The bell curve of normal home owner type vs normal renter types is skewed pretty heavily toward people with "odds traits" being in the mainstream of renters.ther ar lots of once people that do rent places, and eventually become owners, but some people just do not get with the program.

When you do a reference check on the background of a potential renter it is best to avoid anyone with a history of not treating the unit with respect. Singles tend to be risked than couples / parents, people that rented for many years in one place and then moved also seem to be a low risk.

I don't know enough about the "profile" , but I do know that when it happens it almost always is for some minor trigger that no normal person would react to...