The report came back with the following:- no Criminal background- Seems like she has stayed in 5 places in the last 6 years ( i have the information on the last 3). - Evictions:  2 Records (one in 2009 Civil filing with $0 amount, and one in 2010 Civil Judgement $1890 - both by the same property mgmt group -- Lien/Judgement Filings: 3.

No offense to Canada, I'm just a long way from that ballpark. 

Having said that, I wrote the following, candid, hopefully not offensive, summary based on the likely perspective of a young family (kids on the way up to teenagers), 25-40 yr old professional, or DINKS (dual income no kids).

Courts can award you all the money in the world but it is solely up to you to collect it and if your tenant is truly broke you will never see a penny of that judgment.The best defense is a good offense so do your due diligence up front and only accept in qualified and "stable" tenants as best as you can.

No offense but if you are asking such a broad question then you have a lot of studying to do.

Do you have a criminal record?

I stopped renting to them (no offense to the students reading this).Be clear what the students are responsible for in the lease, they probably will not even do that which is clearly their responsibility.  

We prescreen for evictions, credit score and criminal background.

Good luck finding a good tenant broker, they collect commission even if they let a criminal inside your home.

Neither had criminal or eviction records.