Oh, and a deposit for damage paid too, which has no bearing on the above rent and late eviction.
That might start to be fair with your logic.
I might add, this is the same logic with pre or post pay things. Prepaid phone vs postpay on credit...
THe way I would envision is that landlord is not allowed to manage any of that. Let's say you have a property, you can go to the government and say: "Hey, I have this property that I want to rent.". With the option of also giving a specific tenant if you want. The government then takes over completely. They get a free for managing the property and you get the rest. Government handles everything from eviction to damages to new tenant search.
It has to be fair for both parties.
And rent paid in advance is only so, if not in arrears.
But understand, my comment was responding to a post claiming that there should be no way to have a choice in whom you rent to.
I've seen units with a years rent in damages. Ripped carpet, holes in walls, smashed appliances and lights, etc.
But people want there to be no way to chose renters, based upon credit and past history?!
edit: your edited post clarifies things a bit. My primary concern is about forcing costs on the landlords, if there are no reliably checks. So I am open to ideas that take this into account.
edit2: more clarity here, that 'year's worth of rent in damages' was gross, not profit. It happens too frequently too. EG if rent is $100, a year of rent is $1200, but it isn't as if the landlord pockets that. Not even remotely close. Some landlords only make 30% on their units, when property tax, upkeep, water and other included things are involved.
So massive damage can take years to recoup!
My dad had one squatter, who was a respectable 60 years old lady: she just stopped paying and the legal and justice system is so shit that it took more than a year to get her out of my dad's flat - meanwhile she trashed the flat, changed the gates to lock us out and started burning stuff.
You don't get to decide who lives in my property, I do and you can be damn sure I'll think very hard what's my chance the tenant will pay or not based on any data I have available. If they're students or asylum seekers they're more likely to trash the place and go unpunished.
It would be less relevant if I could reclaim my flat immediately (fine, I'll eat a loss of a month of rent) after breach of contract, but that's not the world we live in.