Screening Time

[Stephen E.]

I love BP posts on screening, they help you test your screening skills and it is always interesting what people see and do not see. I am leasing and have an application, so here goes.

The applicants are two couples, a retired couple, their daughter, and her boyfriend. They are applying to live together in a very well maintained three bedroom townhouse. The older couple are in their seventies, the younger couple around 20. The retired couple have total monthly income of $1,700 from their government pension, which is guaranteed. They have just sold the house that they have lived in for the past 20 years for approximately $200,000 and had a $50,000 mortgage, so they have netted $150,000. Unfortunately they are in debt to the tune of $80,000. All accounts are rated 1 and current with the exception of  a cell phone bill which was paid late several times. By the oddities of credit scoring the husband has a lower credit score of 607 while the wife on largely the same data has a credit score of 764. 

The daughter is on social assistance (welfare) after a period of illness; she receives $655 a month. The boyfriend makes $2,000 a month. He has a bankruptcy recently discharged, involving $8,000 in liabilities, much of which was to payday loan companies. His credit score unsurprisingly is 410. The two of them have rented from a corporate landlord and lived together for a year. Their landlord reports that all rent has been paid on time, that there are no arrears, there have been no complaints from neighbors or other issues, and that there have been no excessive maintenance requests. They say that they would rent to them again. The boyfriend's employer describes him as reliable, says he always comes in on time for shifts, and that he has worked for them for several years. The employer confirms income as being $2,000 per month. Though he went bankrupt there are no judgments or collections involving landlords, which seems to confirm his claim to have always paid his rent both before and during bankruptcy proceedings. The daughter has one credit card with a low limit, it has always been paid on time and her score is 733.

Total income for the group is $1,700 + $655 + $2,000 = $4,355. Rent is $1,100 plus utilities, so income is just under four times rent.

The mother describes this as being a forever move, and will not go anywhere else.

I have tried not to tilt the description too much one way of the other to signal what I am thinking on this one. What do you think?

[Account Closed]

I don't think it is really any different than normal roommates living together. You never know if one or more might move out. They are qualified together, and usually can't meet the 3x rent alone, otherwise they probably wouldn't have roommates. 

I've had married couples break up and divorce. Or people lose their jobs. You just never know what might happen. 

Did the older couple say why they sold their house, just to move and pay rent to someone?

Based on what you said, the older couple is probably pretty stable, so I would rent to them.