Questions on prospects for tenants

[Leon Lee]

Dear BPers

I have a condo that is on the market. The rent is $2000/month. I received three applications after the open house and now have a question on choosing the best tenant. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Among the three applications, I like the single mom with a 3-year daughter most: she just got out of a relationship with her bf(I assume?). Her gross monthly income is just about three times of the rent. She also mentioned that she will have $1000 child support, which is great. However, I did hear some horror stories about single moms and babies as tenants. Mostly because since they are the only persons who bring the bread on the table in the family, if there is any changes in their jobs, etc., they have higher chance to be late on rent. However, my instinct kind of likes her, as she is soft spoken and sound polite and careful. 

The other two prospects: 

Two younger girls with two large dogs (Shepard mix) and the total gross income is about $5000/months

One MBA student who has his parent co-signed (with highly qualified income). But he is thinking about to rent for only 10 months. 

So far, my rank is single mom > MBA student > two girls, but open for any inputs that I have not thought about. 

Thank you

Lee

[Sean Walton]

You should have your criteria clearly written down somewhere. You should review the applications in the order they are received without even peaking at the others until you have finished and made a decision on the first based on your written down criteria, otherwise you can run afoul of the fair housing laws.

Even if applications were all received at the open house one was probably first and you should have made a note of the time received.

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