Prospective Tenants: One has Poor Credit; the other has Good?

[Stephanie Jamgochian]

I am fairly new to real estate landlording. I have a SFR in an area that has low vacancy rates. A prospective couple with three kids is interested. They make 2.7x's the rent. The husband has very good credit of 706, no late payments and is the primary breadwinner; his wife is a SAHM, has poor credit of 594, mostly due to late payments (some 120 days late) of student loans, some as recently as April 2018. She had one "unpaid balance recorded as a loss" in 2014. She has always paid her revolving credit cards on time. They have been renting a house for the past 5 years and their current landlord said they have always been on time with their rent and she would rent to them again except they are moving out of town. The husband has consistently worked in his professional line of work for the past 12 years. I'm concerned about the spotty credit and late payments on the wife's part. Any suggestions would be helpful.

[Mike S.]

I'd be a little more worried about the 2.7x rent.  3-3.5x rent is the safer bet.  4 dependents on one salary is also a big red flag.  That seems to be a tightly wound  financial rubber band that could snap at any moment.