Need advice for finding renters in San Antonio

[Betty Cruz]

I am looking for some San Antonio landlord advice - how picky are y'all? I'm hard pressed to find potential renters who don't have major financial blemishes, let alone criminal records to boot. It seems every potential tenant has at least a few accounts in collections. Is this common? Should I rent to them? I've decided I have a hard-fast rule against felonies and recent arrests involving violence or drugs. And I know not to rent to anyone with evictions on their record. But if rent history is good and criminal history checks out, do you deny an applicant based on accounts in collections? I'm thinking if they don't pay their bills, why do I think they would pay their rent?

[Brad Larsen]

@Betty Cruz  You may want to modify your post because you are now putting out to the world that you will not rent to anyone with a felony conviction.  This is a violation of the recent shift in the law for disparate impact.  

In the order of tenant approval, income is king, and rental history is queen.  If they make good money, and pay their rent (both the king and queen as mentioned) - they will most likely be good tenants.  If they don't pay their AmEx bill on time, that may not affect you as a landlord at all.  

Probably best for you to re-visit your stance on screening tenants so you are not in violation of any laws of Fair Housing, Disparate Impact, or Discrimination.

Good luck out there!