Nine Tenths of What?

Possession is nine-tenths of the law, a saying that came to mind today. I had a confrontation with a new tenant to be's parent, who wanted to pay his son's move-in costs by personal cheque. I refused the cheque of course, as once I hand over keys that cheque could bounce but the tenant would be in the house. After a bit of to and fro the father paid by credit card, and appeared relieved when the APPROVED came through on the card machine. All smiles at the end of the day, tenant got the keys and we got cleared funds for the owner. As I often remind my property managers, the easiest eviction they will ever do is to decline an application. Once those little blighters get into the house, they can be awful hard to get out.