Hello,
so I have been a landlord for 32 years now. During this time I have had 3 delinquent tenants. And to believe that if a tenant doesn’t pay you can just get them out that easily means you have no idea how tenancy law works in [DE].
If he is three months behind on rent you can terminate the contract without notice. If the tenant then pays one rent installment the termination becomes invalid. He can play this game over and over. If he stops paying rent and the termination takes effect that still doesn’t mean he moves out. Then you have to file an eviction lawsuit. The whole process takes about 1 to 1.5 years. During that time you are not allowed to turn off the heating or water.
Changing the lock also doesn’t work because that would be trespassing, etc....
As mentioned, I have been through all this multiple times. I must also say I have a few more properties and most tenants are not like that. Most who don’t pay are just unlucky and e.g. lost their job, etc. You usually manage with them as well. Even if it almost always ends up meaning you have to bear part of the costs.
The hardest thing I had was 18 months of rent default and afterwards a complete renovation. If I couldn’t do a lot myself this would have been the income of 10 years of rent.
And the "looking beforehand" unfortunately only works to a limited extent. The biggest "dirt pig" for me was one who was in the upper management of a large [DAX] company. When he moved out the apartment looked like it had been through a war. In the end he paid everything but the stress and the dispute, everything ran ONLY through a lawyer, no one replaces that for you.
So there is always a certain risk. But overall it works.