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Short of nonpayment of rent or illegal activity, it's hard to evict people. Residents have many legal rights, and the eviction process can be long and costly.

Castle doesn't grapple with the problem a lot, because our screening process lets us choose people who will be good neighbors. Occasionally, though, we want to encourage a resident to move on. We may simply refuse to renew the lease, or in rare cases we'll offer the resident a "Cash For Keys" deal. This generally means that in return for leaving the apartment clean and intact within 30-90 days, we'll return the resident's security deposit. Depending on circumstances, we may also include a small amount for moving or temporary living expenses.

We use Cash For Keys sparingly. If we offer a resident incentive to leave, it's because all other mediation efforts have failed. But when we reach out it's usually successful, and always cheaper than a drawn-out eviction process.

Sadly it's a common problem: a bathroom floods into the apartment below, and the affected tenant gathers their ruined possessions and asks us for help.

Usually our hands are tied. The building is insured against damage, of course, but landlord policies don't cover personal belongings. Our leases require residents to get renter's insurance, and at signing we direct them to reliable local agents.

Occasionally a landlord covers renter's insurance in order to get a better general rate, and we can sometimes help uninsured residents in new buildings or off markets. But this is rare. Renter's insurance is a necessity, and Castle states this in plain English. We can't check that everyone gets it, but when problems arise, we've done our part.