Do not rent to Lydia & Daniel Clonts—DEADBEAT TENANTS in Navarre FL

These two have been by far the worse tenants I have ever had. The two of them entered into a standard lease with a third person. At the lease signing they stated they had no pets and therefore I did not charge a pet deposit. Two months into lease the lies and deceit began, numerous cats had appeared in and around the property. They were immediately described as strays even though I could see the cat food bowl out near the front porch. When I found a domestic cat inside the property along with it’s scratching post and toys, I politely informed the tenants they had to pay the pet deposit. Before the first year was out Lydia had implied at least four times (each time she had to pay the rent) that they were going to have to move out. Each time I asked for the written thirty day notice and each time I received nothing. As the economy depressed, I showed a degree of empathy and lowered the rent. Two months later they were back to the same routine. Collecting rent quickly became a task, as they waited until the last possible moment to pay. On the first maintenance call I had to make, I found the property in a state of utter filth inside. I had to step over piles of soiled clothes and miscellaneous debris covering the master bedroom floor just to get to the bathroom. The final straw was broken when they had a split hot water pipe under the bathroom sink that they let spray a steady fan of hot water for over eight hours. When I responded to the maintenance call and immediately turned off the main water cut-off, I asked why they let it run. The reply given was because Lydia was having a fight with the roommate she wasn’t talking to him. Needless to say, major damage to the flooring and cabinets. This time Lydia again remarked about moving out so I called the bluff and demanded the signed thirty day notice. This time she hurriedly hand scribed a letter of intent. I told them they now had till the end of the month to vacate. Later that night and into the early hours they quietly tried to move all of their belongings out. Once out, they refused to pay the remaining balance of the rent due. When they found another Realtor gullible enough to rent to them, they provided my name as reference but intentionally gave one of their old cell phone numbers that they knew was out of service. I did eventually speak with the realitor and warned them about this deadbeat pair. They still allowed them to rent from them anyway. A small claims case was filed against them in an attempt to recover some of the damage costs.