Will you accept this tenant?

[Shu Zhu]

My rental asks for $1600 a month. Got a lot of interest, none has the required income. (BTW, two applicants submitted fake pay stubs. This is the first time that I got so many scam or low quality applications. )

Here is the only one that I am considering:

A woman with her 16 year old kid. Income: child support of $1700 a month, $1700 from a job. Currently living in an apartment paying about $1500 a month. When told income not meeting 3x rent, the applicant advised that she can get her ex-husband as a co-signor. (Based on initial verification, the ex-husband seems to have pretty decent job). Applicant also offers to pay one year's rent in advance to strengthen the case, but asks for a discount. While that may be OK, I worry about what happens at the lease end.

Would appreciate your thoughts.