prospective tenants with a criminal record

[Erela Plotkin]

i have a couple that is interested in renting, but there seems to be a lot of questions marks, both criminal background checks came listed as in review, he just started a new job 2 months ago, she does not work, and the landlord of the last place they rented sold his home and moved out of the country so he cannot be reached to ask him any questions. What should i do?

[Chris Mason]

I'm normally quick to defend someone that made a mistake in the past, especially if it's ancient history or you have other reason to believe that they've turned their lives around.

But in this case there are a bunch of other red flags on top of the criminal record. Excessive risk layering, like (in my industry) when someone has a low credit score AND spotty employment history AND minimal down payment AND minimal savings. Any one of those, or even two, is often fine, but when they start stacking like that we call it "excessive risk layering." 

Move on.