Denying an Applicant-Texas

[Katherine Val Verde]

I had a married couple apply to rent my property. This is my first property to own and first applicant so I am new to this. I am planning on denying their application for many reasons. The husband's credit score is extremely low (barely 500) due to 14 student loans all of which he let get more than 30 days past due within the last year. The wife's credit score is barely decent (mid 600) due to excessive student loans and allowing 3 accounts to go to collections. They have no rental history (they live with his Dad) and no references listed on their application. Also, I found the husband on the registered sex offender list (name, birthdate, and current address all match the application) but on the application when it asked if he had ever been convicted of a felony he answered no....so he lied on the application. (I am still waiting on the results of the background check but my own public search found him on the registry.) So my question is...what is the easiest way to deny them? Can I just send them an email stating they did not meet the minimum qualifications for approval? I want to make sure I do this legally.

Thank you!

[Katherine Val Verde]

@Michael King I don’t want to lie and say I chose another applicant because I haven’t received any other applications so the listing will remain available until I do. And I am currently in the process of reading Brandon Turner’s book on rental property management but hadn’t made it that far yet. 

@Nathan Gesner Thank you. This is what I wound up doing last night because I didn’t want them to show up at the group showing I am having today that they already knew about. I wound up finding a letter online that I was able to fill in and just check the lines for why they didn’t qualify. I checked “lack of sufficient references”, “lack of rental history”, and “poor credit”. I just wasn’t sure if there was an “official letter” I was supposed to send. The letter I chose had all the information for the reporting agencies so I believe it qualified as an adverse action letter.

Thank you for your help!