How to turn down an applicant before they apply?

[Mel K.]

Hi Everyone!

I'm looking for some advise on how to approach a particular situation please. We are trying to rent a recently vacated unit.  There is a couple that passed the initial phone screening and thus led to a property showing.  At the end of the showing when we were discussing the application process that includes a background check, they mentioned having felonies for theft. One felony was as recent as 2016.  Now during the phone screening call, they only mentioned that they had some minor infractions with the law that we assumed were misdemeanors. My wife and I are not typically comfortable renting to felons, but we also believe people can change their lives around.  This couple claimed these mistakes were when they were "young and dumb".  We then Googled their arrests and noticed there was prison time associated.

This couple claims to have the funds and have provided references. Based off of the new HUD policies, we can not discriminate based off of felonies. Do we just have them proceed with the application process? Perhaps there is more information that we need to assess? Or do we just save them the application fee and try to turn them down now?

I'm just curious what others have done if confronting similar situations.

Thanks.

[Tom V.]

Tell them in advance what your standards are and they can choose if they want to proceed with the fee. Forget HUD, renting to felons is idiotic, or for non-profits.