I pre-screen heavily over the phone - I reiterate what it will cost to move in, and I emphasize that we do background checks specifically looking for evictions, judgments, and criminal activity.

I doesn't really care about 700, but that guy's attitude and behavior really pissed me off.

I guess what I am trying to say is just because they have jobs that most of the time are looked down upon from a financial standpoint, doesn't mean they would be bad tenants.If dad is willing to cosign and their income meets your criteria, along with everything else like criminal background, good credit and everything I don't see why not.

To confirm – SmartMove reports include a tenant risk score, national criminal background, and a customized leasing recommendation.

bouncing a check is a criminal offense , tell the guy that you want to void the lease or you will prosecute  for passing bad checks .

It's about the behavior of the animal and how responsible is the pet owner. 

IMO that would not solve the problem this tenant has, which I believe is they spend every "spare cent" and then discover bank fees or some other "emergencies" have eaten some of that "spare" money.As already mentioned above, rather than you training the tenant that you will not tolerate late rent payment without the late fees being paid, the tenant has instead trained you the landlord to allow the tenant to get away with this behavior with paying late.

They are hoping to dazzle the landlord with the large chunk of money, so he doesn't check them out.When I am offered multiple months rent, I know the applicant has miserable credit, no verifiable income, really bad landlord references, a criminal record, is a registered sex offender, or has some other problem with his history that he doesn't want me to look at.The only time I will accept rent in advance is from a verified student who is living on grant money, and then they can pay me for advance months when the grant money arrives (every 3 months, at our local college)

The application is $30 per tenant, and that is what the credit and criminal record check costs me.

I can't believe there is a signed contract with specific languages dictating behaviors of both sides - Buyer AND Seller, and yet Fannie Mae breaks their rules all the time, never met any of their deadlines, and suffers no consequences.