Some tenants are an absolute nightmare. If you're unfortunate enough to have to deal with bad tenants, there are things you can do to make the process easier. Simply threatening to report your tenants can be enough to make them change their behavior. If that doesn't work, following through on your threat can help you collect unpaid rent and warn other landlords about these bad tenants.
Step 1
Inform the tenant that you will be keeping a record of her negative behavior, including non-payment of rent, and that you will make this record available to future landlords.
Step 2
Report any owed rent. If the tenants owe you money, inform them that you will be reporting their debt to the three credit bureaus, thereby damaging their credit history and credit score. If the tenants do not respond positively to your warnings, go through with the reporting procedure.
Step 3
Contact a reputable debt collection agency. The Association of Credit and Collection Professionals (see "Resources" below) can refer you to a company that works in your area.
Step 4
Either sell the debt owed by your tenants to the collection agency, or simply hire them to collect the debt on your behalf. If the tenants refuse to pay, the collection agency can report them to the credit bureaus on your behalf.
Step 5
Report your deadbeat tenants at NoPayTenants.com. Once again, the service is available free of charge. Click on "Register" at the top of the screen and complete the form to create an account. Click on "Add Record" to start a report on the tenants.
Warnings
- You cannot report a debt to a credit bureau yourself. To do this, you must be a member of the credit bureau. This is prohibitively expensive for most private landlords.
Tips
- Always ask new tenants for references and check these thoroughly. It's much easier than having to evict deadbeats.
Resources
Tips
- Always ask new tenants for references and check these thoroughly. It's much easier than having to evict deadbeats.
Warnings
- You cannot report a debt to a credit bureau yourself. To do this, you must be a member of the credit bureau. This is prohibitively expensive for most private landlords.
Writer Bio
R. Sinclair is a freelance copywriter and researcher. She writes about personal finance, health, technology and travel. Her work has been published in numerous magazines and on specialist websites.