By KAFIA HOSH
The middle-aged truck driver looking to rent Jody Brumbaum's Spotsylvania home seemed credible.
His salary could meet the $1,450 rent on Brumbaum's investment property in Lake Wilderness.
And as an airline pilot, Brumbaum's husband was considerate of the truck driver's sporadic schedule. He knew what it was like having a job that required extensive traveling and being away from home.
"My husband decided on him," Brumbaum said. "He was kind of sympathetic."
But six months into his lease, the truck driver and his girlfriend started defaulting on their rent.
Each month's missed payment came with an elaborate excuse.
"It was one story after the other," Brumbaum said.
For a while, the Spotsylvania couple dipped into their savings to make the home's mortgage payments.
But enough was enough, and Brumbaum decided to evict the truck driver.
"It was about the money. But the stress level it put on my family--it was insane," she said.
A nightmare tenant or a difficult landlord can put a strain on anyone's finances or emotions. But there are ways to screen potential renters or protect yourself from a dishonest property owner.
Landlord liabilityLandlords should first ensure an applicant can afford the rent, says Susan Scovill, director for the center of housing advocacy at Housing Opportunities Made Equal in Richmond.
"Verify that they have reliable and regular income," she said. "It's not a requirement that a landlord do that, it's just wise."
There are a number of ways to verify employment, including collecting the renter's pay stubs. Or the property owner can request a written or oral employment verification from the tenant's employer, Scovill said.
Performing a credit check of the potential renter is also beneficial.
Either way, landlords should have a screening process in place, according to Scovill.
"A landlord can design their own standards, but they need to be consistent," she said. For instance, "It may be that they're willing to look over medical issues."
And that's just what the Brumbaums did. They dismissed the outstanding medical bills on the truck driver's credit report.
Instead, the couple relied on his income.
Still, the tenant used his financial problems as the reason that he could not pay rent.
But upon visiting the home before the eviction, Brumbaum said she was surprised by the tenants' seemingly lavish lifestyle: three plasma televisions, expensive electronic equipment and a tank filled with exotic fish.
"They lived the life," she said. "If you can have these things, you pay the rent."
The Brumbaums also discovered an adult and three children who were not on the lease living in the house.
Despite financial solvency, some tenants skip paying their rent, Scovill said.
"People who have income don't always want to spend it on the things they're supposed to," she said.
Scovill suggests landlords check a potential tenant's rental history to see if he took care of his previous dwelling and was a good neighbor.
Renters' remorseWhile a landlord can screen a rental applicant, it may be difficult for a tenant to predetermine a dishonest property owner. Still, there are ways to be a vigilant renter.
A tenant's best tool could be the Virginia Residential Landlord and Tenant Act, which explicitly defines the rights and responsibilities of both the renter and the property owner.
"Before you set out to look for an apartment, you really need to go page through it," said Marion Horsley, spokeswoman for the Virginia Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. "It's not incomprehensible, and it's really worth it to read it."
Since 2003, 419 of the 13,723 consumer complaints collected were from tenants sharing grievances about landlords.
Horsley said many were about tenants not receiving part or all of their deposit back after they moved.
Jani Cramp of Fredericksburg said it took months to get her deposit back.
She rented a three-level town home in Stafford. But when her lease expired in May, she could not get a hold of the homeowner to receive her deposit.
Instead, Cramp dealt with a private property management company that she said would not disclose the homeowner's identity.
"They would not provide me with any information," she said.
She said the management company tried to make deductions from the original $1,350 deposit.
"They accused me of causing damage," Cramp said. "That place was in better condition when I moved."
But when Cramp requested an itemized list of the deductions, the company balked.
"Their stories always changed," she said.
Cramp said she called the Annandale-based property management company daily until she finally received her entire deposit back.
"I let them know I was not going away, that they were not going to do that to me," she said.
Horsley suggests tenants tour the rental property with the landlord and take pictures to document the process. The pictures will serve as proof of the property's state before the tenant moves in.
"It would be nice to get a picture that's dated because that's going to be key to the whole proposition here," Horsley said. "If possible, tour the place again when you're leaving so you will have a leg to stand on."
Cramp regrets not photographing the Stafford home she rented before moving in.
Seeking legal helpHorsley said that when a landlord refuses to make repairs on a property, tenants often withhold the rent in retaliation when they should go through the legal process.
"This is not a good idea," she said. "The Landlord and Tenant Act does set up a mechanism for the appropriate way to deal with the landlord."
A tenant can establish an escrow account through the court system to pay his rent while the dispute is being mitigated.
"That provides a mechanism to work things out," Horsley said.
Brumbaum turned to the legal system when she decided to evict the truck driver from her Lake Wilderness home.
But before he could be evicted, he and his family moved out in the middle of the night.
Brumbaum noted $6,000 in damages to the home after the renters had left.
The Brumbaums are now using the court system to go after the truck driver's wages until they are paid $5,635 in back rent.
The couple rents out one other investment property, but they have decided to sell their Lake Wilderness home.
Brumbaum suggests other property owners be more business savvy when dealing with renters.
"You got to go into it as a business," she said. "You can't be generous."
Scovill says landlords can dismiss excuses for why a tenant can't afford his rent.
"A person has a really good reason for why they don't pay their rent, but that doesn't mean the landlord has to tolerate it," she said.
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Email: khosh@freelancestar.com