This is one of the worst stories of heard from investment property owners. Despite due diligence and having a property management company, they were still scammed. The good news is it wasn’t a grow op which would have required extensive remediation.

“They were gobsmacked, and at first they didn’t believe me. It had to be a mistake, they said. They had hired a reputable firm to find a tenant, and as far as they knew, he had a sterling record. I insisted that I was telling the truth. Verma dug up a copy of Gubb’s application to Chestnut Park and googled the tech company where he claimed to work. She came up empty. She then searched Gubb’s name and found an alarming article. In 2002, police arrived at his Queen East apartment after responding to complaints about paintballs being fired at cars. Gubb and his roommate, Adam Wookey, fled the apartment, but police found 42 grams of cocaine, more than 100 grams of marijuana, more than $5,000 in cash, two stolen rifles and a sawed-off shotgun with the serial number burned off … they had seen the evidence. “It was horrifying,” says Verma. “I barely recognized it as my own home. Walls had been put up everywhere. We couldn’t tell which room was which. The basement, which had been renovated the year before, was unrecognizable.”

These owners had moved out of country for work and had rented their home to someone, through a reputable property management company, and a con-man moved in.

Rental property owners beware!

Read the full story here – The Tenant from Hell.