Being a landlord is running a business. If you are "nice" it can often result in you getting burnt as an investor. We just had one of those examples and it's sad as one bad person can ruin it for everyone else. A tenant was not charged a security deposit because she was a "nicen old woman". Yesterday when she was moved out by her family her children decided to leave ~12 cubes of debris for the landlord to clean up on the side of the house. Resulting in a potential violation. The landlord was stuck hanging with the bill as there was no security deposit to withhold. It is imperative to get a security deposit no matter how "nice" the potential tenant may seem.
-Mike from TerraVestra Property Management