You learned a valuable lesson.
But my tenant was such a great talker and had a great story.
Red flag #1: Tenants that are "great talkers" with "great stories".
All you really need to know are facts from sources other than the tenant themselves ... LL references, credit report, eviction check, criminal check, etc.
She said a hurricane had destroyed her next-to-last residence and the LL was no longer around. Her previous LL was traveling and was not available.
Red flag #2: Tenants that claim former LL's are not available.
Regardless of the tenant's claims, insist on the LL's name and the property address. No references that you can contact = automatic disqulification for the applicant.
You may be able to find contact info (telephone #, home address) on the former LL through web searches or public record searches.
Her previous LL finally returned my calls and told me he is more than willing to write a letter of testimony telling how she left his small apartment unbelievable filthy. He had to remove 3 trailer-loads of trash and can’t get the horrible smell out. The renter caused extensive damage by clogging the toilet and allowing the air conditioner to get clogged with hair. Cat feces were on the floor, the four corners of the apartment are oozing urine, he will have to remove the base boards, etc.
Unfortunately for you, this info came too late.
All she gave me as a security deposit was $200. I can't use the last month's rent to cover the repairs, can I?
Is $200 all that you required? If so, you need to rethink that amount for next time ... it will not cover much damage. A tenant will figure that $200 is chump change to lose and will have little to no incentive to take care of your property.
No, the last month's rent is just that.
Furthermore we have noticed that she seems to be very accident prone, and we are afraid she may find some reason to sue us or the association where her townhouse is located.
Had one of those years ago ... I could not wait for them to get out of my property. The guy had various worker's comp and personal injury cases going simultaniously.
S-C-A-R-Y!!
I was scammed and I should have known better.
Now you know. Good luck in the future