Income stream for new applicants

[Russell John Walsh]

I had a vacancy listed for the last two weeks. I got a lot of responses but I decided to take the house off the market to get a feel for how bad tenants can behave in the current environment.  One couple have continued to follow-up and probably want the place. I sent them my Tenant and pet screening criteria and they said they can pass it all. No application or credit checks yet.

The woman who has been interacting with me seems polite and patient. So, the issue I haven't broached yet is , are they still working? My guess is that they will have to say no they aren't working, or not full time,  or fib  about this,  because the spouse is a type of contractor that will probably face contraction. 

The add they responded to  was for rent with deposit equal rent. If they fib, I'll find out and it's over. No problem. But if they tell the truth that they have less income I might not want to run them off in this environment. One avenue I might take, if they are honest,  is to take 2x rent as a security deposit plus 1rst month rent. Which is the maximum  legal in California. I would also ask to verify past income and that they had reserves and/or maybe ask for a stable cosigner.

I am not desperate for a tenant at this time and was considering doing  upgrades with my free time( which I have a lot of now) and listing again for a  June move in, or later. 

Does anyone have comments on this possible situation? Thanks.