Self Employed Applicant - Full Year Up Front???

[Jessica Wygal]

Help me with this scenario. Two adults have submitted an application. Both have no evictions, no criminal records, credit scores above 750 and less than $1000 in credit card balances. HOWEVER, they are ‘self employed’. She sent a screenshot of account balance but of course it doesn’t include name. A Google search of her yields nothing. Google search of him tells me he plays video games for a living. After the application was submitted (with no identification) I asked for 2 years tax returns and 3 months bank statements since they are self employed - they want to pay full years rent up front in lieu of the additional documentation. They listed a current landlord but I haven’t attempted contact her. PLUS they have 2 cats & 2 dogs. House is in ‘B’ neighborhood with new floors, paint, etc. Something seems off but before I completely draw that conclusion - what would you do?

[Scott M.]

"want to pay full years rent up front in lieu of the additional documentation"

This is a 100% pass for me.  Two separate issue here.  1) No providing all the documentation 2) Paying upfront.  Regardless how I fee about 2 I would deny them on #1.  Must provide all the data, no exceptions.  And then the little "hide the data game" they are playing with the "in lieu of" makes me think they are trying to hide something. 

I would not consider them further, I would simply pass and move on.