"George" wrote in message
...
On 2/1/2011 9:14 AM, Robert Green wrote:
We've been thinking of renting our current home rather than selling in
this
down market while we rent in some of the places we're thinking of
retiring
to. Unfortunately, movies like "Pacific Heights" where a bad tenant who
knows all the tricks of staying in a place without paying rent, haunt
us.

Sure, and you can turn on the evening entertainment and news program and
see houses burned to the ground.

I know it's a question of percentages but even removing all the newspapers
and TV court shows from the equation, just the experiences of my neighbors
tell me that renting in my area is more perilous than it is in other, less
tenant-friendly jurisdictions. Just how much so is a matter for
investigation.

Yesterday I saw a 'People's Court' episode where a deadbeat had managed
to
stay, rent-free, in a Section 8 rental for three years by using a
loophole
that says a tenant can't be evicted from Section 8 housing if there are
code
violations. Every time he was about to get evicted, he just broke
something
to forestall the eviction process, eventually plugging all the sinks
with
rags and flooding the place.

Don't rent to section 8 tenants.

Not sure if that's an option, and don't want to be hit with a discrimination
suit if I turn one down.

How can you drive a bad tenant out from a rental in such situations?
How do
you prevent them from completely trashing the place on their way out? I
know that tenants should be checked out thoroughly beforehand, but even
so,
people can have no record of evil behavior but still turn evil. While
I'd
probably NOT rent to any Section 8 tenants, I could easily see someone
losing their job or some other such tragedy and so decide they wanted to
live in my house rent-free for as long as they could get away with it.

I would say you are overthinking this. Millions of folks rent properties
without issues. Use common sense and rent to folks you can check out.

These are hard times. It makes people more desperate than they normally
might be. I just want to make sure I have all the information I need to
make a competent decision. If the thread wanders around a bit to the
absurd, then so be it. It wouldn't be Usenet if it didn't! (-:

--
Bobby G.