Would you rent to this person?

[Sharad M.]

Hello all,

I had a lady apply for one of my apartments. She's going through a divorce, so her credit is not the best, but she makes 5 times the rent. She absolutely loves the apartment and is willing to pay $50 more than what I am asking, but the biggest problem is she wrote this on her application "Smokes, but only outside the house."

So I called her and told her that I don't allow any smokers in any of the apartments, she said she has just quit smoking and in any case doesn't smoke inside the house. Would you rent the apartment to her given everything on her application looks good, except the smoking part?

I was thinking if I decide to rent her the apartment to put something in the lease that if there's any indication of smoking in the apartment, she will be liable for a big fine. What do you guys think?

[Joel Owens]

Smoking is a hard habit to kick.Even if she kicks the habit she might replace it with a healthy habit exercise,church,etc. or another negative habit alcohol,drugs,etc.

You just can't quit you have to replace the void with something.

Since her income is great I would take a much larger deposit to cover the risk.

Just like pets,other tenants moving in people will not always tell you the truth.It's human nature for many tenants not to be 100% honest.