Potential Tenants - Real doozies!

[Sarah Miller]

Ok, I have 2 applicants right now for one of my properties.  Neither is ideal but I haven't straight up decided to deny either one yet.  Rent is $650/mo.  Here they are:

1. 40-something year old mom and 18 year old son.  Mom works at McDonalds making $1000/mo (verified already).  Son works at a truck trailer plant as a mounter making $2000/mo (not verified yet) but has only been there for a month.  I've requested background/criminal/eviction checks on both but I am still waiting on the son's.  The mom's came back with just a speeding ticket and apparently $8000 in consumer debt that is in collections. 

2. 60-something year old couple and their 30-something year old son (this one's the doozy).  The daughter actually called me to set up the showing.  She said she was helping out her parents find a place to live and they weren't too tech savvy (she found the ad on craigslist).  The daughter didn't come but the parents and their son did.  The couple both have health issues and are both on disability.  The son works at a restaurant.  They didn't put on their application how much they get yet so I still have to verify that.  They told me during the showing that they were getting kicked out of the place they are now because the real estate company is selling the place.  Come to find out they are actually getting evicted!  Looking over the court docs and scanning through Facebook to get a feel for things, I have a feeling the daughter got them into the eviction mess.  They all live together right now and the daughter was the primary applicant on their current place.  She apparently has trouble handling money and is in a lot of debt. (Reminder-the daughter is not applying to live in MY place, only the parents and the son). 

My Thoughts on these:

1. The mom and son make plenty of money to satisfy 3x rent.  I am a little worried though because of the mom's collections and also the son has only been at his breadwinning job for 1 month.

2. Obviously the eviction scares me, but I almost want to call them and get their side of the story.  I'm not sure why they would let an eviction go through if they could have helped.  Of course, the rent was $900 where they are so maybe they simply couldn't help.  I like the idea of guaranteed income from the disability but I don't know what to do about this one.

What do you think? Thanks!