So embarrassed. So completely bamboozled. Such rookie mistakes. What a mess!

In order that others can learn from my awful mistake, I'm posting about it but please don't yell at me because I will cry...

Couple. Nice people. She late 40's, He early 50's. Hard working (construction, painting...) Show up to first appointment in their painting clothes which was FINE because it was middle of the day and hey, they are working. Did I mention really personable? Self-employed, provided bank statements and such. Acceptable proof on income.

He admits to drug use in the past on the application, and to losing his license back in the day for DUI and speeding. I don't judge people on that, half my tenants have had a DUI in their past. He said it was when he was young, etc. I figured, "Hey he's being honest!" And he's 50+ now.

I call his landlord (7 years, I only ask for the past 5) and she said, "Nice people. He can fix anything. Yes I would rent to them again."

Anyway we sign the lease and they move in, all is well.

Then we got a call right after they moved in: domestic disturbance. His former wife came to the house and an altercation occurred. We didn't blame him for that, although it did concern us!! A lot. Issued a warning and such, and all has been quiet.

For some reason, I decided to check on the disposition of the domestic thing, and ran his name through NC's criminal database (free. And I never find anything.) BUT...HOO BOY! Rap sheet long as your arm, incarceration for possession with intent to sell Class 2 drugs, B&E etc.

So I go to Mr. LL and look for the report I was SURE I had run on him. Nope just her, which had nothing. And his is 8 pages long going back to 1997 in Connecticut. Many charges on the same dates, and many speeding and auto stuff. 8 pages!

Some stuff you could maybe expect as a contractor: sued for violating a home renovation contract or something like that (Hard to read the charges.) But others? B&E! Felony intent to sell. Incarceration in NC.

Because I was sitting here just STEWING about it and being mad at myself, I looked the former LL up on Facebook. She owned the house all right. But the first picture on her page? "My grandson..." who is TENANT'S SON! So she is his mother ARGH!

Sometimes the one who look the best have to be checked the most carefully. At least that's what I've learned after doing this many years.

How did you miss running a criminal/credit check on the man?

Maybe they'll work out.

WMH NC Normally i'd go with what you asked-- not to brain you-- but in this case you left yourself unguarded concerning this guy (not her) and that's bothersome. Everything was done on her -- I'm thinking that little bird on your shoulder was telling you something about this guy and you maybe didn't want to check him out. That is definitely not YOU.

Thanks for sharing ....

I had a similar applicant who gave me the former landlords name. When I pulled the tenant landlord history on the applicant........guess who else got kicked out at the same time - the alleged landlord/room mate.

Time for a checklist. I have one for each applicant and won't approve them until it is completed. I have though I ran a check on someone and then seen it isn't checked off on my list and I find something disqualifying when I do the search.

W,

Welcome to the club!

Typo when entering his name?

You're a smart young lady and I know you run a tight ship. We know what will happen with these folks.

What is your plan now?

PS Bamboozlers are really good at bamboozling!

This explains why they were "really personable".

BRAD

Don't harp on yourself too much. Now and then we all make mistakes. I am assuming your human too?

One of my favorite screening questions I learned here. Asking the person listed as "prior landlord", "What is your relationship to [applicant's name]?"

When people start talking to much during the first meeting it sets off the same bells as when they start pushing money in your face. I have the deposit I have the rent aND NEED TO MOVE RIGHT NOW.........

Nah, these people weren't the over-eager "gotta move now" types. In fact, they were so busy with work it was hard to meet up with them to get things done. I remember I was ready to withdraw my offer because of timing difficulties.

Brad, there are two places to check records in NC - one is upcoming and one is the offender database. I could swear I checked the offender database and nothing showed up. But apparently I didn't and I just don't get how I missed that because I did a LOT of checking on him. Something is strange to me on this one.

The grandmother/landlord's FB says her grandson (his kid) has a "letter from Harvard" and her house is a 5-bedroom, 6-bath place (I can tell from County Records and Google Street View.) I'm betting he (Tenant) was a ne'er do well rich kid (from Connecticut.) Seems like HIS kids are doing well.

We decided that as long as he keeps his nose clean we are not going to do anything right now. We've checked out the premises and it's clean, yard is mowed, and neighbors all have our number and know to call us if there are issues.

Don't feel bad...just this morning I'm looking through the Georgia Sex Offender list and find one of my young tenants listed for child molestation back in 1991.

I have no idea if this was one of those Romeo and Juliet issues but a criminal check during the application process picked up nothing along this line. And, of course, he lied on the application when asked about any criminal history.

Ironically Ricardo and his partner will be evicted on Monday due to failure to pay rent for July.

Don't be too hard on yourself - this could have been a glitch like Mickie(OH) mentioned, or you could have skipped a step... but he's there now, just keep your antennae up like you're doing.

I am so sorry about the situation and am hoping that the tenant continues to mow the lawn and to keep the place clean until his lease is up.

Since you shared I'll share two of my many bamboozleds.

We USED TO go back 5 years on felonies. The guy was clean. Then he murdered his wife in our apt by smashing her skull with a frying pan while she slept. Police said he had a record.

What!?! We reviewed the app - where did we go wrong? He had been in prison for those 5 years!! for cutting off his previous wife's ear! Yikes!

So we changed to 10 years back. Now, it's forever.

My $47,000 meth lab: "My husband is 'out of town' and will sign when he gets back" (from 5 years in prison for meth!!)

At Convention, somebody (probably Jeffrey) has the app question "Is your landlord a friend or related to you in away way?"

My app says "What will we find when we check with the courthouse and police?" If he left that blank he "lied".

Are they self employed? No background check required to be your own painter.

How did he admit to those "minor" offenses? On the app? or conveniently lie by omission during the visit?

Awesome tip to check the LL's FB !

Keep on keepin on! If this is your biggest mistake you're doing good!

BRAD

"At Convention, somebody (probably Jeffrey) has the app question "Is your landlord a friend or related to you in away way?"

You learned a valuable lesson. Just move forward,

keep an close eye on things and if you want him

out... have a plan of action for the first sign of

trouble. Use him paying late as a way to get him out

by eviction or any other lease violations.

This is something that should already be in your contract lease in some form - you just need to tweak it This is what we have in our application where where they sign (paragraph is actually longer but this is the key phrase to protect yourself.

"Applicant understands and agrees any false information by applicant will constitute grounds for rejection of this application, forfeiture of deposit/earnest money fees and/or landlord/management may at any time immediately terminate any lease contract agreement entered into in reliance upon misinformation or false information given on this rental application"

Add something like

"Tenant agrees to reveal any and all family connection or relationship in his/her application information regarding rental history and also agrees that failure to do will constitute fraudulent or false information."

** ARE HIS INITIALS R.T.? ***

I had a con artist couple who lived in Virginia, N. C. and many of those same areas who came to me as "short term vacations rental" GUESTS who knew how to WORK THE SYSTEM (West Hollywood rent control.)

They were OVERLY NICE (1st red flag.) She was like my "best friend" & he became my "handyman." They continued to "extend their stay" until they had their foot in the door more than the 31 days required when their RENT CONTROL RIGHTS kicked in. When I finally told them I could not "extend their stay" any longer, their true personalities surfaced & they told me they weren't moving & I owed them $13,500 in re-location fees! (which I paid to get rid of them.)

I filed the Ellis Act on my bldg. & then they extended their 4 mo. eviction to 1 yr. During that time they made my life a living hell, lodging bogus maintenance complaints to the city & being rewarded w/ rent reductions. It gets worse! After they harassed me for 1 yr. the city filed CRIMINAL CHARGES against ME allegedly for "tenant harassment" & "Violations of the muni code!"

If you wanted to get rid of them can you use the fact that they falsified information on the application?

WMH--I'm sorry to hear you got bamboozled---Things like this (or worse) can happen even if you do everything you can do to check people out. We are only human.

The more slimy they are, the better their stories are and the more normal and personable they can act---they are called con-artists for a reason. Good tenants can also turn on a dime or start doing drugs and drinking heavily also--I've seen that happen with a tenant that I thought would be the last person in the world to go down a dark hole.

I would immediately institute a monthly inspection and keep a tight leash on them. Have your eviction paperwork ready to go at the first sign of trouble.

As you see from some of the stories here, you are not the first to get bamboozled.

It happens to most of us. Sometimes I get too overloaded and let someone in without a full check.

One bad one will remind me of my error for at least 10 years!

You cannot fix something until you realize it needs fixing...you have done that, so congratulations!

We got a SO many years ago by failing to check everything. Wife said they were separated with no possibility of reconciliation...a few weeks later he moved in. I found out by accident 3 years later he was on the list.