Potential Tenant with future court date

[Nik Moushon]

A quick disclaimer, this potential tenant, we'll call Rose, has other issues with her application that will cause me to not accept her but i'm posing this question to gain some knowledge and opinion. 

She toured the house and immediately came across as way too eager about the place. Constantly saying how perfect it would be. I know I have a decent rental but it aint THAT nice. So that threw up some flags. She also, very quickly I might add, came out and straight up told me she was trying to get away from an abusive ex-husband BUT that the court case was almost over and that she would be getting a huge check (ends up telling me exactly how much in the app) and so she could pay me 6 months of rent in advance. More flags. Also tells me she is on disability (not an issue in and of itself) but odd at how blatant she was with all this, pretty personal info. More flags.

Fast forward a couple of days and I get the background/credit checks in. Everything she said came back true based on the reports but one thing she didnt tell me (which I'm only surprised bc she told me EVERYTHING else) was that she also has a domestic violence charge against her in this court case she is fighting with with her ex. The court date is pending so nothing has no one has been charged yet. Is this common in domestic violence situations for both sides to be charged? Her charge is a misdemeanor charge so the likely hood of any jail time is very low (i think).  I only ask bc I'm just not familiar with this kind of situation. Money issues aside, and focusing on just this court case issue, would this be an issue for you? Why or why not? 

[Taylor Roeling]

@Nik Moushon I feel like because you were getting a lot of initial red flags before when she toured the apartment, this renter won't be a good fit for you. Especially if you've met her in-person and feel uneasy/don't think she'd be a good fit, then I would say you should look through your other applications. I also believe it is common for both spouses to be charged in domestic violence disputes, but, obviously, we don't know the situation and the law has to deal with such things - in most states arrests won't show up on background checks after seven years, but convictions should. I think it is very important to look beyond the hard data in screening tenants and also look at the soft data - such as, how they act in-person, their tendencies, social media, if their car is clean and things such as that. She might have a good credit report, but you should listen to your instincts and go with someone who you feel more confident will treat you and your property how you'd like! Best of luck.