Screening Potential Tenants Without A SS Number

[Dana Jordan]

Hi, I am a newbie trying to fill my first rental and am unsure about what to do about this situation. I had a woman inquire about the rental. Here are the facts.

-It would be the applicant, her husband, her two kids (ages 22, 15) and her sister.
-Only her sister has a social security number, as the others are going through the immigration process.
-The rent would be paid by the sister, the husband and the son.
-The sister only makes $2800/mo. and the rent is $1875. 
-She offered that the husband and son could provide bank statements.

I get the sense from her FB page that they have been in the US possibly less than a year. I didn't see any sketchy behavior on their FB pages although I take that with a big grain of salt. My questions are these: What information should I be looking for on the bank statements? Should I also ask for the employers contact info? How risky is this? Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thank you.