After losing nearly $100,000, Leo Behaj is sharing his experience with a pair of troublesome renters he says “have a PhD” in scamming landlords.
Behaj and his wife bought a second home in Reading, Massachusetts a few years ago with the intention of moving in when their children got to high school, allowing the kids to attend a school in the district. In 2021, they found a couple who were keen to rent the property in the meantime — a couple that reportedly also wanted to keep their children in the desirable district.
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Almost immediately, these tenants began to complain about needed repairs and stopped paying rent. As Behaj and his wife would come to learn, the couple has reportedly been repeating this pattern with helpless landlords for 20 years, having been at the center of 12 eviction cases in the state.
"They’re professionals," Behaj shared with NBC10 Boston. "These people have a PhD. They have everything for how to screw the system."
Meet Bryan Coombes and Nicole Inserra
Behaj and his wife came to the U.S. from Albania in 2010, and since they were new to the country, renting this property was their first experience as landlords.
"I said to my friends, ‘From an American dream, it can become an American nightmare.’"
Bryan Coombes and Nicole Inserra, the couple accused of being "professional tenants,” battled Behaj in court for two years. Behaj says Coombes represented himself during the proceedings and seemed to know exactly what to do in order to delay the couple’s eviction.
NBC10 Boston also reports that $13,000 in rental assistance, which is covered by taxpayer dollars, was given to Coombes and Inserra during their stay at Behaj’s property. Meanwhile, during the two-year battle with his tenants, Behaj was forced to take a second job as an Uber driver to pay the mortgage on both of his properties.
After losing $95,000 in legal fees and unpaid rent, Behaj sold the house in order to work his way out of debt.
NBC10 Boston also found that while Coombes and Inserra were Behaj’s tenants, they filed for bankruptcy five times. Federal court records show the couple has a combined nine bankruptcy cases between the two of them.
Speaking outside the court, Coombes told NBC10 Boston that he is not a professional tenant.
"That’s not true. I use the law, and the law helps me do what I need to do," Coombes said. "I don’t avoid paying rent. I use the law to my advantage when people don’t fix things that are supposed to fix things."
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The first of many victims
NBC10 Boston’s investigative team managed to track down the first family that Coombes and Inserra had issues with 20 years ago.
Peter Amato’s parents bought a duplex in Woburn that Amato and his wife, Teri, lived in until 2004. Amato’s parents then rented the property out to Coombes and Inserra and, according to court records, the couple almost immediately stopped paying rent.
Amato said issues dragged on for months. Complaints to the city’s health department over things like lightbulbs, asbestos and lead paint allowed Coombes and Inserra to stay on the property without paying rent. After months of mounting costs, Amato’s parents finally gave up.
"It was either pay them and stop bleeding out money, or fight them and bleed out money and put yourself in financial chaos," said Amato. "It was cheaper to give them $20,000 and tell them to get lost."
The latest case
Coombes and Inserra are now battling a new landlord over the same type of alleged issues they claimed were wrong with Behaj’s property. NBC10 Boston spoke with Bob Lee, an attorney who is currently working on a case for a landlord who rented a home in Burlington to Coombes and Inserra.
"Their whole entire goal is just to stay on the property as long as possible, paying the least amount of money possible," Lee said. "It doesn’t take a lot of effort to play the system that way."
The owner of the Burlington home filed an affidavit in May, saying he and his wife plan to move back into the house once he takes possession because he can’t afford to pay two mortgages and risk foreclosure.
Meanwhile, the homeowner has amassed nearly $100,000 in losses including rent, legal fees and repairs. The homeowner also claims in the court filing that he was forced to borrow money from friends and family.
"Without the court’s immediate intervention to allow me to take rightful possession of my property, this is an unsustainable, unreasonable and unjustifiable situation for any landlord," the homeowner said in his affidavit. "There is no scenario where the tenants can make me whole."
Professional tenants explained
Also known as professional renters, tenants who use loopholes to avoid paying rent are not uncommon. In fact, 58.5% of respondents to a National Multifamily Housing Council survey in 2024 said they’ve experienced an “increase in nonpayment of rent due to fraud in the past 12 months.”
A professional tenant’s goal is quite simple: wrap up the landlord with complaints and legal proceedings to avoid paying rent and delay eviction for as long as possible. Coombes and Inserra have reportedly been running this playbook for decades, using bankruptcy as another tactic to prolong court proceedings and delay eviction.
Due to failure to file the required documentation, all of the bankruptcy cases filed by Coombes and Inserra were dismissed, but the two likely knew their cases would fail.
"It’s pretty obvious that they never intended any of these cases to be successful," said Josh Burnett, a bankruptcy attorney who reviewed the court filings with NBC10 Boston. "They were just trying to buy time."
How to spot professional tenants
Thankfully, there are a number of legitimate ways that landlords can screen potential tenants to ensure they’re trustworthy.
In addition to the usual credit check, a landlord can also run a criminal background check on any potential tenants. Landlords may also ask for an employer letter or even pay stubs to prove the tenants have sufficient income to afford rent each month. It’s also worth asking for references from more than one previous landlord if the prospective tenants have a history of frequent moves.
Getting a sense of a prospective tenant’s rental history is key. Behaj told NBC10 Boston that while he spoke to a reference for Coombes, he now believes the person he spoke with was only impersonating a landlord.
If you’re a first-time landlord, asking plenty of questions can help you understand more about your prospective tenants and provide clarity on any gaps in their rental history, allowing you to make a sound judgement about their character. Trust your gut, and don’t be afraid to keep looking if you don’t think a potential tenant is the right fit for you.
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This article provides information only and should not be construed as advice. It is provided without warranty of any kind.
