Would you rent to this applicant?

Question

I have an apartment in a good B+ area. There is an applicant who seemed ideal until we ran the background check. Organized and showed up on time, good first impression, credit score in the high 700s with no missed payments on credit cards and student loans, has a very good job - verified, income more than 3X the rent  - verified using pay stubs, previous landlord of the property where the applicant lived before gave an excellent reference. But there are 4 criminal records, 3 of them are for speeding 6-19 years ago, and one is a misdemeanor 10 years ago  - I googled the misdemeanor type and it is "failing to pay for property, labor, or services obtained or used" like failing to return rented stuff or something, and sentenced to community service for that. I plan to ask him to explain what happened 10 years ago. Nothing was mentioned on the application, but we only have questions about being sued, evicted, convicted of a crime, so a misdemeanor wouldn't fit those. Would you rent to him and why?

Alice Huang · Answer

Curious to see what age group this applicant is in now?  If the applicant is 30, and perhaps did some dumb things in his early 20's, I'd let that go as perhaps he is a different person now.  But if the applicant is 50, and was still irresponsible in his 40's, perhaps that's a bit different.

Yulia J. · Answer

Thank you very much for your input. I clarified with the applicant, he had no idea about collections as he said he thought everything was paid off, and the misdimeanor was about his train electronic ticket that didn't work. I learned a lot in the process. Not returning library books can become a criminal record too, go figure! Also, there is a new amendment we have to follow in our property county (Cook county, IL) regarding criminal history. Thanks to @Mark Ainley  https://www.gcrealtyinc.com/bl...

We approved the applicant, and he was also approved at another place, and now it's up to him.

Scott M. · Answer

Given what you have stated, yes, I would.  As for why, because this tenant would meet all of our criteria.  Misdemeanor from 10 years ago?  Be real.

Michael Noto · Answer

None of the things you mentioned would give me pause. I would get more clarification on the medical bill he was sent to collections for. A lot of people have medical bills they thought insurance would be covering and once they find out about it they pay it off promptly.

Jason White · Answer

Everyone has an opinion of course...but I would not worry too much about the past discretions all 6+ years ago.  I would ask clearly about the medical collections - choosing not to pay for one bill means they could do same in other areas of their lives.  Ask, but not sure I would be overly concerned myself.  Good luck!

Michael Schleicher · Answer

I can't give you a definitive answer of yes or no, but I would recommend taking a close look at what situations you are contemplating with this applicant and decide whether or not the applicant meets or does not meet your criteria. Use this as an opportunity to make fine-tune your criteria so you can give every client an objective approval or rejection.

Justin V. · Answer

@Yulia J.

Yep. Without a second thought. I’m probably in B+ markets mostly.

George Kopp · Answer

I personally would rent to this person. I would not hold the very old, minor infractions against them at all. I would inquire into the more recent $1500 medical bill but agree with what someone else wrote about people thinking that something was going to be paid by insurance or fighting with insurance and not realizing that the in the meantime the medical provider has sent it along to collections.

Michael Bennett · Answer

Do the speeding tickets matter at all? I don't think so. In that case the question is only if the single charge 10 years ago disqualifies him. I don't think it should. His credit score is in the high 700s and that charge is so vague it could be something as small as getting into a dispute with a cable company over a free HBO trial that applicant forgot to cancel.

Yulia J. · Answer

@Kevin Phu Yes, we do include a credit score in our criteria. It is usually 625+, but we will look at the whole picture. 625 because of collections, missed payments, bankruptcy, etc is one thing, 625 when somebody is just starting to build their credit history with no missed payments or collections is a totally different story. The main point is the applicant would have something to lose. Somebody with no credit score has not much to lose. Sometimes those people have enough cash and offer more cash upfront. Lesson learned the hard way.

Would you rent to this applicant?

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