What applicant would you choose?

Question

A- 2 adults (including a homemaker) and 2 boys of 3 and 5.

B- 2 adults (both working professionals) and 1 daughter in Kindergarten.

C- 2 adults (both working professionals) and 1 daughter entering Kindergarten in 2020.

Am I correct that I can expect less wear and tear with less children? Also, with more than one child, being this a 2-bedroom apartment, I fear that they would move out soon, and I'd rather have them for longer term. So in that sense B or C would be better. But A would be OK starting the lease 1/7 as opposed to 1/15 or 1/30. But of course, B or C could still decide to grow the family. Everyone's credit score is close to 800, so not a problem there.

Is it a good idea to go by the landlord references? Any other suggestion?

Thank you!

Nathan Gesner · Answer

First, they are not all equal. One of these three has stronger income, better credit, and better Landlord references. That should be your focus, not the number of children or occupants.

Second, a family with five kids may be less wear-and-tear on a house than a family with one kid. It depends on the people. I know some large families that are honest, hard-working, responsible people that discipline their children and I know some people with one child that are absolute slobs that could care less if their kid writes on walls or swings from the chandelier.

Anna Sagatelova · Answer

@Maria G. Before you even so much as accept an application or start advertising your property for rent, you should outline exactly what your qualifying criteria is. You've identified that credit score is important to you. You can't discriminate on familial status, so throw that out. Yes, landlord references are a good criteria to have, but be specific - what questions will you ask? Will someone be disqualified if the landlord says they were delinquent every month but paid before the month end in full, or if someone was delinquent only once but never made up the balance?

Income is one of the most common criteria, but you can't just say I'll wait and pool 5 applicants and pick whoever has the highest gross income. Pick how much is acceptable (3x monthly rent is standard) and enforce that.

Once you have your criteria, the applicant you approve is the first one who applied who meets it.

Rick Beno · Answer

First, congrats on finding three qualified applicants!  Second, do not make this decision based on number of kids, which violates fair housing laws.  Sounds like C is already out due to the later possession date.  Look carefully at all the factors for A and B and make your decision based on that (again, not on # of kids).  Someone has a higher credit score or more income or something.  At the very least, one of them applied first, so you could give them priority.

Penny Clark · Answer

I agree that you should have a written rental criteria to ensure all applicants are screened equally. If both credit and income is similar, I would also recommend you compare debt to income ratio for each applicant. There are applicants with good credit scores but are heavily in debt, which may make it difficult to make your rent payment. Always check previous landlord history if applicants resided in current property less than 2.5 years.

If you're property is in California I would not reccomend doing a lease longer than a year because you may want to do a rent increase after a year. You'll also want to review California's new rent increase restriction and termination of leases laws which go into effect the first of the year.

Dennis M. · Answer

The one with best credit score and income

Amy Beth · Answer

@Maria G. I would personally go for the applicants with two working professionals over one working professional. That way if one loses their job at least there is another source is income. To decide between the two working professionals I would go with your gut instinct about which family you felt most comfortable with if their credit is the same.

Aaron K. · Answer

Credit is going to be a better determining factor more kids does not necessarily equal more wear and tear, I'd actually argue that the more responsible the parents the less wear and tear you'll get.

Maria G. · Answer

Thank you everyone for your insight. They all have credit scores close to 800, their income is 6.5 to 8 times the rent, they are all OK with my preferred lease duration (16 months), and they are even also from the same culture! So truly, besides the fact of having 2 sons (A) or 1 daughter (for B and C), there is only that A would sign for 1/7, B for 1/15, and C for 1/30.

I have not checked any references for C because I don't think I want to wait 5 weeks, but a quick check on A and B (to be completed Thursday, hopefully) seems to indicate that they both are OK.

@Amy Beth: I updated my post right after I posted it because I found out that all 3 applications had actually two working professionals (the website just doesn't do the update very clear--it is shown at the end of the post), so even that is the same.

What applicant would you choose?

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