First time land lord- need advice on rent/income ratio and let fee

[Cindy Joseph]

I have a middle aged guy with a disabled son (wheelchair) who wants to move in our unit. Rent is 1900 and his gross monthly is 4000. He does have 100k in the bank. Would you consider this remnant? I’m in Melbourne FL (1 hour east of Orlando) and the market is slow without much interest. 

He was willing to do a 15 month lease and pay all up front. I think this is a bad idea because taxes?

also they have a service dog and a cat. What is  reasonable cat fee? Should I do a non refundable or refundable cat deposit? 

[Greg M.]

Based just on income and rent, he can't afford the unit long term, and he likely knows that. My guess is he's having a hard time finding a place and using the cash in the bank and the upfront rent to get anything he can right now. 

Taking the rent upfront can be an issue. It's not a tax issue as you don't earn that money until the rent is due each month. You shouldn't put it all in your account day one. You or tenant need to have an escrow account set up that pays you monthly. It can become a problem if you need to evict them. 

There is no such thing as a non-refundable deposit. A deposit is refundable if conditions are met (no damage). The word you're looking for is "fee" if you want to keep the money no matter what.  Personally, I'd not charge anything for the cat. You can't charge for the service animal dog and the cat could easily become an ESA. 

People here will tell you to follow your standard rental qualifications no matter what. And that is good advice. They either do or don't qualify. Having said that, there is no problem having SMART compassion and taking safety measures (15 months rent in an escrow account). 

Because I'm in California and evictions are a nightmare and all laws are anti-landlord, no way do I rent to this person. Since you're in Florida and the laws are much more fair, I'd be willing to take a chance if his background/credit check came in clean.