Would YOU Let Them Rent

[Scot Sorenson]

Hi Everyone. My PM just called me about a family that just applied for my SFH rental in Minnesota. We haven't ran credit or done any of the backgrounds yet. Heres the situation. It sounds Like a family of 4 that either 2 or 3 of the people are disabled and on disability (Which is not the issue). The Mother is the caretaker. They disclosed up front that there credit is bad. They lived in there last rental for 3 years and the one before that for 6. It sounds like this would all be government money paying for the rent. Not really sure how that works. They claim they moved out of there last rental because the landlord was selling. If I were to rent to them that would mean straying from my original perimeters set for tenants (good credit, 3X income, good rental history, no criminal background). The bad credit scares me but this may be to medical bills. According to my PM they meet the income requirements we have set. Any advice on this would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[Christian Wathne]

Denver is a hot market, no reason to lower your standards on credit or any other factor. I recently went through something like this with my leasing agent in Seattle; he was sending me seciton8 and other charity program applications, and applicants whos "dog would stay outside" (no pets rental house); I responded with this below email, then waited a few more days and got a great tenant. 

"Hi Roy, thanks for the updates.

So long as I a complying with any applicable laws, I am not interested in section 8, rapid rehousing or any other government/charity programs for this property. The type of tenant I'm looking for is one who has a strong and stable income, good credit, no pets, will take care of the property and is willing to pay extra for a nicer home. Section8/rapid rehousing/etc does not meet that criteria. "