This is a Business not a charity.

Unless they are willing to step up and pay for the month of June.You are searching well in advance of when the unit is available making it inconceivable that a landlord would even consider this applicant as qualified.You are operating a business not a charity and need to always keep that in mind.

Side note-- don't ever do a charity where they guarantee the rent for a year, learned the lesson the hard (and expensive!)

You really can't Ben - now that doesn't mean go out and be an ahole about it, there are many other ways....but to keep the rent artificially low does both the tenant and landlord a huge disservice.You are running a business not a charity.

The loan type is an owner choice (lower rate versus higher risk), but should have zero impact on the rent.Managing properties should be done like a business and not a charity.  

You may not want to raise it all the way to market rent at once, but you will have to decide if you're running a charity (and can absorb that loss of potential income) or a business. 

It's not a charity organization. 

Don't rent to friends unless you see it as a charity and expect no rent.I love collecting pet fees and deposits.

Times are hard… but as you say, you are not running a charity.  

It's a business, not a charity.