I've had lots of showings and met probably hundreds of applicants over the 5 years I've been a landlord.  And I've noticed that there are some signs that signal you that an applicant might not be the best candidate, before even checking them out further.

Now, you need to check out tenants' backgrounds, because you don't want to be accused of discrimination, but I tend to notice that when I see these signs, I find something about the tenant that disqualifies them as they don't meet my rental criteria.

Examples:

- Looks around the place for 5 seconds then immediately wants to apply.  This tells me they just want "somewhere" but do not care where.  Not caring is a bad sign.

- Tells you before even seeing the place that they have cash in hand for a security deposit and first month's rent.

- When they call to ask you about the place, immediately ask how far back you check for evictions.

- Asks if you require double security deposits for tenants with "bad credit".

- Starts the conversation with "well I have an eviction but I can explain".

- Doesn't put down their own birth date on the application correctly.

- For "date available to start rental term" they put down today's date.

Does anyone else have any warning signs of potential bad tenants?