I'd be surprised if this a profitable strategy. Eviction timelines in CA under best of case circumstances are measured in months. That starts usually well afte

I'd be surprised if this a profitable strategy. Eviction timelines in CA under best of case circumstances are measured in months. That starts usually well after someone has fallen behind on their rent. So you are 4-5 months out on rental income minimum. And even in a reasonably well kept place by tenants (not common) you are going to be doing repairs / new carpet / new paint etc. Then the showings / applications / screening cycle begins again. In CA deposits even earn interest. So this claim, that landlords like renting to bad tenants so they can go through the CA eviction process when the tenants stops paying and damages the place to make money by maybe getting a contractor to inflate some kind of repair that they think they can get away with - is a real stretch. In most evictions the default in rent alone will eat up most or all of the deposit. Landlords just wish they could get tenants out faster so the deposit would cover more of what is ultimately owed in these cases. There is not tons of extra deposit money floating around here.