Please advice me on keeping new tenants.

[Quenby2]

Hi everybody, I have had some issues with my current tenant as they had some criminal activity and got rid of them as they had their own problems with the place and it was by sheer luck that they themselves decided to get moving. I need to keep the property occupied as I am on pension and the rent was my supportive income to manage expenses. But, neither do I want to bump into any other annoying people as my tenants. Please do advice me on how to deal with this situation.

[justin0419]

Check your county government website.  A lot of them will have links online under the circuit clerk section where you can do searches for civil and criminal cases.  It's a free way to check up on applicants.  Ask for the last 2 landlords the tenant had.  Keep in mind the first one may tell you they're wonderful as a tenant (just to get rid of them).  The one before that has no reason to lie to you.  Make sure you do employment and income verification too.  Many, if not most, applicants will lie and just hope things slip by you or that you don't check them out.
A short vacancy is much better than putting in the wrong person.

[hassansr]

I know it might be a little late to think about this for you, but it all starts with buying houses in the right areas of town. If you buy in the rough areas, you'll be assured to draw people that thrive in those types of areas, rough people. Try to buy in areas with good school districts, higher property values and low crime rates. Any good realtor should be able to help you.

The best thing you can do now is either hire a professional mgt company to manage it for you or do as the other poster said, and really screen them before you let them in.