Visiting house of prospective tenant

[Lu Carter]

When a prospective tenant is living in my area, I often set up a quick home visit at their current rental. I try to do it with an appointment but not with a lot of advanced notice. This helps me make informed decisions about who to rent to.  I do this before requiring tenants to pay the online credit/criminal check fee and I do not take any additional application fees. In the past, I have only walked through houses that reflect the renters' care of the property. Or if a prospective tenant refuses to let me walk-through, it is a deal killer and I can usually find something else in my tenant criteria that excludes them.

Recently I did a walk-through and through there was no serious damage apparent, there was evidence of heavy wear and tear. I decided not to continue with the tenant application. The awkwardness was that there were no other excluding factors in their application but I felt I could not tell them why I was not moving forward with their application. 

Maybe I should add some wording to my tenant criteria handout that includes something about an acceptable home visit but I am not sure what wording would be fair and appropriate.  Any ideas?