If you’re in the real estate investment biz, you’re no doubt going to come across a bad tenant at one time or another.

No matter how good your screening process is, how diligent your property managers are, and how savvy your investment strategies can be, it’s just bound to happen. Tenants can sneak past the screening process, good tenants can go rogue, and sometimes, bad things just happen.Bad tenants come in all kinds of flavors. There are lazy, neglectful tenants that run your rental property into the ground by simple lack of upkeep and hygiene. There are rowdy, unruly tenants who disturb their neighbors and make a mess with parties and a wild lifestyle.

There are tenants who like to complain, argue, and fight with your managers about everything. There are even bad tenants who break your lease at every turn—bringing in extra illegal tenants, pets, and doing all kinds of outlandish things to your property. Unauthorized construction, destruction, and damage!

And that’s not even to mention the kind of bad tenants that get into downright illegal behaviors.

So how does a real estate investor handle a bad tenant, when a bad tenant can vary so much? What do you do?