Court Record Search - reason for denying an applicant

[Melissa Crimp]

Hi. We have a few investment homes in Roanoke, VA for long-term rentals. When screening potential tenants, I've learned that the Zillow application doesn't show much, if anything, and the TransUnion SmartMove isn't proving to be much better. Lucky for me, Virginia court records are my best place for searching evictions, warrant in debt, etc.

My question is - if nothing comes up on a background check, but I find court records that tell me something different, can I use those as a reason to deny? 

Also - I'm dealing with an applicant right now who appears to live with a family member (same last name, listed as the landlord on her application) who was just served an eviction notice on September 14. I won't be renting to her, but she keeps checking in about her application, and I'm not sure how to deny her and don't want to say that I've looked up all these records. 

Any advice is appreciated!