Potential tenant with bills in collection

[Mohammad Sheatt]

I have a SFH for rent . A young couple are interested. Their income in 3x monthly rent . This background check was ok except that they have several bills in collection (medical, cell phone companies) as recent as 6 mo ago. I have not spoken to their previous land lord yet. Do you consider the collection a red flag if their landlord verify that they pay rent on time? would you not offer them a lease contract based on that ? Thx

[Adam A.]

@Mohammad Sheatt - Make sure you talk to more than 1 previous landlord as the last may give you a good reference to get rid of them. While I consider the history of long term revolving and installment accounts are the most important, I wouldn't reject a tenant for a bruised credit taking in consideration the entire picture.