Years ago, when a landlord had an apartment for rent he listed it in the newspaper and waited for the calls to come in.

It gave him a sense of control as he could screen the applicants before deciding on the tenant he wanted.

Nowadays, with demand for accommodation so high and to avoid being bombarded with telephone calls all hours of the day and night, landlords have resorted to other methods of finding tenants.

Some rely on word of mouth from good sources, others just check the "wanted to rent'' section in the classified ads of the newspaper. Others screen their potential tenants by asking them to write to a post office box, submitting references and names of past landlords.

If tenants have become increasingly frustrated by the process of finding a place to live, so too have landlords whose worst nightmare is to end up with the wrong tenant.

"Many have the perception that being a landlord primarily involves accepting rental cheques from tenants, but that is rather far fetched," said Charles (not his real name) who has owned rental units in the west end of the Island for several years.

"In fact being a landlord at times can be frustrating, especially when one has a mortgage payment due on the first of the month, only to hear from a delinquent tenant that 'you will get the rent when I have the money'.

"What that landlord has to do to avoid any problems with the bank is to pay that rent himself to the bank in order to cover his mortgage payment."

Charles has rented to locals and expatriates, from former Base personnel to exempt company employees. Bad tenants are bad tenants regardless, he says.

"I had that experience with the Base people, who pay good rent but were very destructive," Charles recalled.

"That was mind-boggling way back then, however I accepted it because at that time I was paying a mortgage. The exempt company people we have now don't compare with the Base people, they are more professional, organised and family orientated.

"What is even more agonising to the landlord is that the delinquent tenant continues to have his (or her) priorities all screwed up - especially during the summer months when the tenant has put aside money for a trip to places like Disney World in Orlando.

"And perhaps adding to the frustration is that same tenant has bought a new car, one fancier and more expensive than the one owned by the landlord! Landlords have few defences, at times, against poor savers. Of course you can threaten legal action, but taking steps to have an issue settled by the courts in frustrating in itself in that you have to first get a lawyer.

"The time in which it takes to first obtain a court date and then dealing with the matter is rather time consuming. Once it took me five months to settle, fortunately I was able to get an eviction. However, I was never able to get the money I was owed."

It is no secret that overseas workers, some with housing subsidies from their employers, are able to pay higher rents than locals. But Charles would rather keep his rents down if it meant getting a good tenant who pays on time.

"There is definitely a shortage of apartments out there," Charles says. "A year ago I advertised a three-bedroom apartment in the western area of the Island and received 40 applications, half of which were from exempt company workers willing to pay well in excess of the $1,575 I was asking.

"That's why most landlords would prefer to rent to foreigners than locals. In most instances they feel that foreigners are more likely to pay more and on time, while locals are often delinquent and late with their payments on a regular basis."

Unlike some landlords who rent exclusively to foreigners, Charles prefers to look out for his fellow Bermudians. And he prefers to keep his apartments priced so that locals can afford to rent them.

"There are some landlords who give married couples a chance, realising that they cannot compete with the higher prices that foreigners can often afford," he stated.

"But at the same time the landlord takes the risk of being one day placed in a position of having their confidence in the young couple backfire when these tenants show that they are not responsible and are more inclined to travel and buy expensive material goods while neglecting timely rental payments.

"Good tenants are indeed a rare breed these days and when landlords finally land tenants who are responsible, it's these same tenants who are rewarded with good, long term agreements from the landlord.

"You don't want to be classified as a greedy landlord who is only going after exempt company people, who are willing to pay well over $2,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom place. My highest rent is $1,600 for three bedrooms and two baths and I refuse to increase it anymore because I want to cater to the middle-income local person."

One would-be tenant in search of an affordable home gave an example of how competitive the market is.

Recently a home owner had an apartment for rent in Devonshire, near Lindo's. He arranged for the potential tenant to show up at 10 a.m. on a Saturday to see the apartment, only for the tenant to find himself in an ''open house situation'' with several others also there at the same time, both local and foreigners.

Whoever was interested in the apartment was asked to fill out an application form, stating employers, references and maximum rent they could afford.

"He promised to contact us, but never did,'' said James. "So after a few days I called him again and left a message which was never returned. I guess he got the tenant he wanted.

"We were definitely at his mercy, and here we were filling out an application form to pay his mortgage!"

Like Charles, that landlord was looking for the ideal tenant.

"It's more about getting a good tenant than a good rent, especially when I don't have a mortgage," said Charles.

"From the outset, when you advertise you are put in a pressure position because you have people coming for a place who are desperate.

"Realising that the apartment is moderately priced, and because of the chronic shortage of housing on the Island, they say that they won't have any problem paying $1,600. But I've had the experience, too, of having people in for three months and after that they struggle."

Charles says he has been forced to evict three tenants over a 15-year period, ''all of whom took on a little more than they could handle", he notes.

"We're talking about people whose priorities are all screwed up, tenants who still go on their yearly buying trips. They feel they can come back home and catch up, but the old saying is 'if you can't pay one, how can you pay two rents'."

"I'm one who travels a lot and I'm in a position of not knowing whether that money has been deposited in my account or not. It's nice to have a tenant who is understanding, responsible and who knows where their priorities lie and can guarantee that the money is placed in your account by at least the third of the month."

Some landlords put the rental of their properties in the hands of an agency, leaving them to collect the rents. Charles prefers to manage his own properties, though listing ads in the newspapers often produces a response greater than most landlords are prepared for.

"If you put a phone number, especially for a moderately priced apartment, you would get an excessive number of calls," he warned.

"You would get about 50 calls, whereas if you ask people to write to a P.O. Box, you would get far less because a lot of people would not be that keen to write."

Another problem Charles has experienced is renting to a number of roommates. While it may make the payment of the rent easier, if the friendship deteriorates and somebody moves out, the burden then falls on the person remaining. Suddenly the rent becomes too high for a single person to pay.

"There are girlfriends, professional girls, who team up and get an apartment, but after two or three months they find they cannot cope with each other's faults and they split up," said Charles.

"The other one is left there struggling along alone. So what does the landlord do, he can't put out this girl but she can't afford the rent? It's quite a dilemma - I've had that twice, too.

"I know a landlord, a friend of mine, who is reluctant to rent to single girls because these girls end up bringing in their boyfriends. He comes in, parks his car all along the lawn and ends up abusing the facilities somewhat.

"It's unfair, because the landlord makes the agreement with that one girl to be the occupant of that apartment but then she moves in her boyfriend."

Renting to tenants with children is another issue for landlords to deal with. Some prefer not to, even though they realise that people with families need accommodation, too.

"For my three bedroom apartment I ask for two working adults, preferably husband and wife," says Charles who follows up on references given.

"I'll accept boyfriend and girlfriend, but only if they have a good working record with a strong company. I would say only two children for a three-bedroom apartment, but if I'm satisfied with their record I'll accept three. "The emphasis has to be placed on their ability to pay the rent."

Former Premier Sir John Swan recently unveiled plans for a new 68 apartment building on Parliament Street. He anticipates a shift towards city living and sees great potential in that area.

However, as one tenant noted, it is still about affordability and if the average person cannot afford to rent or buy such units then the project will only meet the needs of the higher income workers, not those with lesser means.

"Locals won't be able to pay the rents that these people are asking for,'' said Charles.

"But if space is found for these type of structures to be built in the city then exempt companies will put their people into these places and it would free up places outside of the city for locals.

"Then again, it would be hard for the owners to drop their rents, but then they would have no choice but to go after the local dollars."