Can I deny a Rental Applicant based on perceived lying?

[Dorys Prentice]

I have a SFR that I just put on the rental market after two years of remodeling.  The place is brand new from the studs in.  

I have had a myriad of unqualified people inquire.  I did get a request from a person who is insistent on renting the property.  I told him that he needs to come over and tour the property first.  When he came to tour and interview with myself and my husband, he stated he owns a local retail shop in town and plans to put 4-5 people in the house.  When I told him that every adult needs to fill out a credit application and go through a background check, he said he would be responsible for everyone.  I told him we can't accept that and  everyone still needs to fill out the application.  He then said, OK, then just send me and my store manager the application for now.  We took his info and the store manager's info and said we'd send out the invitation to apply (through apartments.com credit/background check) later in the day.  We also told him we are showing the property the rest of the weekend. 

Quite frankly, my gut feeling tells me that he is lying to me about how many people will eventually end up in the house and then removing them will be a nightmare, let alone what they'll do to the house having no skin in the game.  However, being that he is Asian, I need to avoid any discrimination lawsuits.

At this time we do not have any other qualified candidates I can't use the line the we accepted another candidate.

I'm worried enough about this situation that we are considering taking the house of the rental market until January just to avoid this situation and hope he finds something else.  What is one more month or two off the market after 2 yrs!

[Nathan Gesner]

Yes, you can deny an applicant based no false information. You could also deny them by stating your property is a single-family residence and not a boarding house for employers.

I've rented to businesses before and it can be very lucrative because I charge much more. I currently have a house that would ordinarily rent for $1,800 but I'm renting it to a company for $3,600. I also charged them a double deposit ($7,200) and a non-refundable cleaning fee of $800. They're happy to pay because it's a helluva lot cheaper than putting guys up in a hotel. Easy money when it's done right.