Thoughts on credit / background / rental check?

[Kenneth McKeown]

I have a unit that’s come up for rent (half duplex). I evicted the previous tenant so I have to admit I’m a little nervous with who goes in next. One side is rented to a family that had bad credit (medical bills), no rental history (lived with parents), but have been there since May and have been great! They are even paying above market rent.

I am showing the other side to a couple that has great rental history, no issues on the background check but low credit. I don’t know exactly why yet - haven’t completed an application - but what are your thoughts? 

Would you rather a tenant have bad rental history, bad credit, or a bad background check? I’m thinking bad credit - but what do you do to ensure, even if they have bad credit, that you don’t end up having to evict?

I usually do first months rent + security deposit (= 1 months rent). If everything checks out with this couple - would you do any additional to cover your butt?

Any thoughts are appreciated!

[Katie Stewart]

I would check out why the couple has such low credit. If it's because of something like medical bills (like your other tenants), I would let it go. If it's because they haven't paid off their credit card in 2 years (or something along those lines), I would definitely pass. I would also think about creating set rental criteria guidelines (i.e. above a 600 credit score, no evictions in the past 7 years, etc.) so that you know what your standards are for renters. This can help to make the process of picking a renter much easier. Hope this helps!