Desperate Tenant - Prospect

[Angela Henderson]

So, we have our very first property ready to rent (after a 3 month rehab where we did most of the work) and just before the holidays, a passerby stopped by and stated that she would love to rent our house. My husband took her information and I gave her a call a day or so later. She sounded like a good prospect but said she wanted to make me aware of a "discrepancy" in her credit report related to a water bill with a previous landlord.  Following the holidays she called again to see if we were ready to show the property at which time we scheduled a date for next week. She then went on to say she is sure it's the best place for her and that she hopes to get the place. I guess because of what sounded like desperation to me, I decided to look online at our local court eviction website, and guess what? She's in the system for a tenant complaint.  One case was from 2006 but she has another case where the last document filed was is March of 2014. Because all of this is new, I'm really not following all of the documents filed by the court,but the latest writ as of March 2014 says that she hasn't vacated or paid any rent.  Needless to say, I'm thinking this application will be a waste of time and that's where I need opinions...... Do I proceed with our date for the showing, let her complete the application, and then let her know that she doesn't qualify?  Do I tell her that I pre-screened her so that she doesn't waste her money on an application fee or I waste time running a creidt report? My husband thinks telling her that we pre-screened her isn't fair as we do have to confirm she is in fact the same person that I searched.  Not sure of what to do, but I really don't want to have her spend money unnecessarily (she is low income), nor do I want to waste time running a credit check. We're planning to do an open house so it's not so much of a waste to let her do the walk through.  Was it creepy for me to look her up in advance? I also couldn't resist searching FB (nothing material found there). Am I suppose to just wait until I have a completed application? Help Please!!!