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I rent apartments, and have seen alot of this lately. That is why I am trying to get out of the rental business. Several (a large percentage) of my recent tenants have been playing the system for all they can get. It is very difficult to get money out of worthless deadbeats who have figured out how to manipulate the system. They start as clean cut college kids who take out huge student loans. Then they blow all of this money on beer, weed and other drugs. Then the utilities go behind and the credit cards go up. Then the rent gets behind. They still keep smoking and drinking. They tell you that they will pay you everything in 2 weeks. Then they say 1 more week. Then they write you a bad check. Towards the end they start buying really expensive stuff when they realize that their credit is screwed. By the time you get them thrown out, they owe you hundreds of dollars in back rent and have done hundreds of dollars of damage while they were drunk or all stoned. Amongst the trash that they leave behind, you find months overdue bills from the gas company, the electric company, the water company, the cable company, the phone company, the cellphone company, the ISP, Visa, Mastercard, Discover and Columbia House. One guy in particular from this past year had collection notices from all of these people, and even left his unfiled w2 statement behind. He just didn't care. He even had some utility bills in one of his friends name. He must've borrowed the guy's ID to get the water turned on. There were collection notices and a shutoff notice on this bill as well. Some day, his friend is going to apply for a loan and discover he has no credit. I took him to court and was awarded damages, but there is no good way to collect. It ruined his credit, but what does he care? I have half a notion to mail his w2 to the IRS with a nasty and insulting letter telling them where to stick it. Then maybe they can torment him some.

I found your comments on real estate landlording interesting. I am curious on a few points since I am not familiar with West Virginia(?).

How soon must an tenant leave after receiving an eviction notice?

If an tenant doesn't pay by a certain date, ie: the first of the month, do you proceed with the eviction notice right away?

Is the rental market very soft in your area?

Do you collect a last month rent or a cleaning deposit when you first rent the place out?

What do you rent, apartments or single family homes?