Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I am a brand new landlord trying to rent my house for the first time. I found a very charming family who is eager to move in. They own a business and it appears that money is not the issue, although they did admit some credit issues. I run some checks and found a pending felony charge for 2nd degree theft on the woman of the house. She is scheduled for sentencing Sep 13th. I have strong reasons to believe they would be nice people to have, but now I am confused with this pending class C felony charge. Should I pass? Or, perhaps, should I rent it to them?

If they have both bad credit and pending criminal charges, I say pass. There are plenty of "nice" people in the world who have good credit and aren't criminals.

Posted by Ralph F, CA on Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Yeah, I passed... Now they are disgruntled, accusatory and want their application fee back. I'll give it back to them. I am so lucky to have checked as many sources as I did. Having those people would be a nightmare. They quickly confirmed for me that declining their application was the right thing to do. Important lesson to learn: never judge people based on how they look and how nice they are. The appearances don't determine the character. Thanks Brian D!

Posted by Monika A, IA on Sunday, September 5, 2010

Amen.

Posted by Donald G, MA on Sunday, September 5, 2010