Rent to Tenants with Large Credit Card Debt?

[Rachel H.]

Hi everyone. I have applicants (a professional couple in their thirties) to rent a single-family home I own. They seem like fine people - no reason to believe otherwise. Their combined income is 7x rent. Their credit scores are both over 700. They were once homeowners, but have been renting for the past few years. My one concern so far with their application, though, is their combined credit card debt, which is four times that of the average US household, and twice as high as the average for their income bracket (they also have student debt and an auto loan). From their credit report, it appears they are making regular payments and haven't been late with any payments on anything in several years, so perhaps they just put their wedding on the cards or something and planned to pay it off, but I don't know. Is this a red flag? Given all of the above, should I be concerned or is it probably okay? Thanks for your input!

[David Barnett]

@Rachel H. I agree with what most everyone else has said.  I want to mention one additional thing that I think might guide in the future.  I would be cautious about using "national averages" as a way to try to qualify or disqualify someone.  Someone that has $30k+ on a $342k income is a lot less risky than someone that has $8k on $50k-$60k (which is the national average household income).  If you're going to use national average data, I would recommend using all of the other national data to provide as a benchmark.  With that income, is it safe to assume that the property is in Seattle?  If so, I would recommend using local data, since national data is not exactly useful on the coasts.