Tenant Screening- Limited Credit History at 50 years old?..

[Jim Murphy]

I recently posted a listing for a unit in my 2-family which has had a lot of traction. An overwhelming amount of inquiries flooded through my inbox in the passed week. I tried to narrow it down to only a handful of people, and scheduled times for them to view the unit. I emailed applications- which I learned may have not have been the best approach, since it seems like it slowed down the process a decent amount, but I would like to make a decision and commit to someone so I can take this listing down and be at peace knowing I selected the right tenant for this unit!

I have an applicant-

Mr. Joe Schmoe

62 years old

$4,300 a month gross income

Plans on retiring in 3 years, wants to downsize to a more affordable unit in preparation.

All seems great to me so far, but upon running his information (I used "MyRental" for the credit/background check), found that he has an extremely limited credit history? The website provided me with a little "flag" that stated:

" The information reported by the selected credit bureau shows that the credit file for this applicant is less than three years old."

It shows 4 "tradelines," two of which are car loans- one is his, the other a cosign for his girlfriend's lease. The other 2 being a closed furniture store credit line of $2,200 and a closed $500 limit credit card account. 

He's got 3 accounts in collections:

$150 medical.

$355 CapitalOne which states "dispute resolved- customer disagrees."

$995 for a local apartment complex for which he claims never to have lived at.

I am very new to this whole process so I have not seen many different cases or scenarios pertaining to screening or anything, but I can't seem to figure out how someone can be a previous home owner, approaching retirement, with 3 years credit history. Is there something I'm missing or not comprehending with the report? I've seen a few applicants with no credit history who live with family or someone that has some kind of credit, but can't understand how you can live on your own with no credit history this day and age. What am I missing here? 

[Dan Moore]

Had a couple apply. Early 60s. Not married. Similar story for why they were renting. Pulled up in a shiny new Dodge. VERY similar credit file. Eerily similar to your description. Very little history. What there was was not good but petty stuff easily explained. 

Seemed ok in the walk through. Because something was fishy and the credit file was so short I called in a favor and had a criminal background check run. A real one. Instead of the weak public file we see, I got back about 10 pages of wants and warrants for failure to appear, failure to pay registration, false identities, etc. Girlfriend was the worst of it but the guy was no angel. 

Gave them a curt no on their application and they proceeded to argue and plead through multiple conversations that they should be rented to. Held firm and they went away. 

They were living under aliases, which explained the short credit file. They were scam artists.

If you can talk to someone who knew there 15 years ago and verify their ID and corroborate their pay for everything in cash lifestyle, then you can make a decision after lots of diligence. I have seen people like that. But if you have other qualified applicants I’d move on.