Bad Credit Applicant

[Neil Whitney]

Hello everyone, I have received a application from a tenant who has bad credit. 574 score

She makes extremely good money, 8k per month offshore. 

Should I make her give a larger deposit?

have a cosigner?

move on and find another tenant?

Qualification Standards Your Application will be denied if you do not meet the below standards for qualification.

Applicant must have current photo identification and a valid social security number.

Applicant's monthly household income must exceed three times the rent. All income must be from a verifiable source. Unverifiable income will not be considered.

Applicants must receive positive references from all previous lessors for the previous 5 years.

Applicant may not have any evictions or unpaid judgments from previous lessors.

Applicant must exhibit a responsible financial life. Credit score must be a minimum of 600.

A background check will be conducted on all applicants over 18. Applicant’s background must exhibit a pattern of responsibility.

Applicant must be a non-smoker.

Occupancy is limited to 2 people per bedroom.

any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.

[Jennifer T.]

I'm not necessarily saying you should make an exception, but I personally think credit scoring leaves a lot to be desired and it would be beneficial to look at WHY the score is low, as opposed to just the score itself.  Maybe she's recovered from cancer, but racked up $1M in medical bills and can't make the monthly payments wanted.

Talking about my own self, I usually have a credit score in the low 700's.  Long story short, I had to fund a reno using my credit cards.  It became a vicious cycle of my credit score dropping because of high utilization.  Then some of my cards cut down my credit limit.  Raising my credit utilization even more.  I haven't had a missed payment on anything, ever.  But, at its lowest, my score dropped to the high 500s.  Just from high credit card utilization.  And it is heading right back up to where it was before with each passing month, as I pay those balances down.