At the time of writing, Jerry’s post got over 25k likes on Facebook and was reshared 49k times. Some internet users even shared the story with law enforcement and suggested that the family be brought to justice.

Bigger Pockets has some simple but to-the-point advice for fresh-faced landlords. Even if you believe in the inherent goodness of mankind, you can’t deny that there are some rotten apples out there. Apples that could spread the rot to your property. So it’s important to screen out potential problem-causers.

Two things that you should look at are the tenants’ incomes and credit scores. A poor credit score is more closely linked to risky behavior than a high credit score. Of course, there are always exceptions. But you want to do business with individuals who pay their rent on time, not those who always make excuses.