Minimum tenant credit score?

[Michael Zack]

What's the minimum credit score that I should allow? I live in a good area, 5 minute walk to a few restaurants and train into Boston.

[Thomas S.]

"Only reason he has a low score is due to having defaulted on payments for his student loans. He sacrificed those in order to always pay his rent on time "

As a landlord that is the type of decisions people make that I need to know about. This individual chose to live above his income level and as a result chose to default on creditors. He is not financially wise and is not someone I would rent to for that reason. I do not want any tenant that lives on the financial edge and chooses to default on debts. Additional financial stress will result in non payment of rent. He chose to live beyond his means. This is why credit scores are a very important factor in assessing risk. They attribute a % risk factor to every individual. It is not that it was a medical bill or a student loan that caused the problem it was poor money management in not preparing in advance to deal with such issues in regards to maintaining payments. S**t happens to people, I need to insure that as a landlord I do not end up paying for it.