Eviction on record from 7 years ago (2008) do you rent to them?

[Rhondalette W.]

Trying to find our first tenants. We have found a couple that we like, however the husband has an eviction from an apartment in 2008. I have heard some say that if a person has ANY evictions they would not rent to them. Just wondering if there is a time limit on evictions? Would you rent to someone with an eviction from 7 years ?

[Rafael Floresta]

Well, it is complicated. I would look at the rest of the credit report. If they were squeaky clean after that, I personally would. My best tenants are the ones that had issues but have turned their life back around. I've had some misses too, but I was on it to get them started on eviction as soon as they relapsed, so they knew I was all business. 

You will have the most leverage against them, because it is hard for them to find somewhere else to live. 

Maybe charge a premium on the rent for the first year? In NJ your secuity deposit is very limited (1.5x rent amount) so I would go the route of extra payments to build a extra layer of protection for you. It looks like income but you need to save that for court fees and unpaid rent. If Texas has looser rules for security deposit, I would go with 2 months and last payment. If they can come up with that sum, they are most likely good people.