New Landlord question

[Richard Bader]

Quick question.. I just advertised my first rental. I plan on doing credit and background checks, along with verifying references and employment and making a visit to where they are living currently and see how they are taking care of the place. My question is: I received an email from a prospective renter “asking does bad credit matter?” I need to know how to respond. I won’t automatically deny someone with bad credit but it depends on what type of bad credit along with the other qualifications I listed above. I do not want to tell here bad credit doesn’t matter and then I run the credit report and its horrible. I also want an easy way out if I decide to not rent to this person. Can someone please give me some advice on how to respond? Thanks so much again.
Richard