screening tenants ! with bad credit :(

[Richard Moreno]

Hello BP,

I recently listed my rental on a variety of sites, like FB, Zillow, CL etc. To my surprise I have received too many inquiries about the rental! Which I know is a good problem to have ! Unfortunately I have not had much time to show the rental because I live in Boston and the rental is in Providence. After having to evict 2 other tenants I am trying to not have that problem again. I recently showed it to a family and she filled out an application right away. I reviewed it and noticed she has had a steady job for over 10 years, but I still wanted to meet other potential tenants. I have had a lot of interest from young professionals but have not had time to show it to them so I decided I will give this family a chance. I told them that I would run a credit & background check, if everything checks out I will reimburse the money. But I told them not to pay for it if they think they have bad credit, ( under 520) any  evictions or criminal records. Everything checked out except their credit is 500 and below !! they owe everyone, like utilities, cellphone, credit cards etc. I guess I know what I need to do, but I do feel bad, but I have no choice ! Any advice, should I text them, call them, I almost want to give them their money back. What would most people do?