Newbie-1st time Landlord / applicant conundrum

[Cindy G.]

OK, Here are our issues:
4/2.5 house we entirely rehabbed ourselves. Our first one ...

Applicant wants a 2 yr lease, $1,125 yr 1, $1,135 yr 2
Family of 5.
Husband getting job transfer, making $50k gross.
So we used TransUnion SmartMove, got the big red DECLINE
[i]Level of delinquency on accounts
Too few bank revolving accounts
Number of accounts with delinquency
Inquiries impacted the credit score[/i]
BK in 2005:
Plus...
Scores of 580 + 591

Husband has 12 year job history w/same co., so does wife, but she has no transfer of job lined up.

What we have read on BP is many of y'all don't just use the score to eliminate ...
Do we even explore further?
Do we have them get a co-signer? (out of state)
Thanks
Cin.

[Account Closed]

I too like long term tenants. If they stay less than 2 years I lose money. I might be the "odd duck" in this respect but a credit check is simply a guideline as I know if they have good credit they are going to buy a house OR jump out of my property and buy something therefore leaving me with a vacancy. I PREFER tenants with some kind of credit dings. Recently we have been placing a lot of people that have lost their homes to foreclosure or short sale. They are SUPER grateful and they know they are "damaged goods" for most landlords.
What I search for is did they jam up a landlord in the past? Do they have an eviction or judgment from a previous landlord? How do they keep their current home? Do they have a verifiable job history and stable employment?
As far as them living in your COMPLETELY REHABBED home they are all NEW at one point. Did you rehab it with the intent to make it a rental?