Tenant Screening ? 3 roommates 3 diff results from background chk

[Jason Hyder]

Hello BP Community.  Working on my second rental property but first one that I am doing the tenant screening.  It is my time to jump in and learn this part.  I am using an online company to complete the tenant screening.  I have showed the property to 3 roommates and just completed my tenant background and screening.  1 tenant was all green lights!  The other 2 were conditional, or yellow light as an analogy.  (All 3 submitted separate app/app fee).  I am just not feeling good on moving forward as 1 of the 3 has deliquent payments on their car in the last 30/60 days and some other items.  

My question would be, how would you handle the communication in this scenario pending I were to decline their applications collectively?  Are there privacy concerns I need to worry about from the communication.  Or do I just keep it simple and decline the collective group based on certain financial criteria?

Thanks for any feedback here.

[Patricia Steiner]

There is a lot written about this on the internet.  Some credit agencies suggest that the strongest candidate should have his credit pulled first (really?) and others say "why would you rent an apartment with someone who can't afford to pay his bills now" (more like it).  Since they made application together, I would let whomever you're communicating with know that "as a group, they did not meet the minimum qualifying criteria."  If asked for any details, suggest that they each obtain their own credit bureau reports to make sure the information is correct. Unfortunately I have seen landlords be pulled into major wars and delinquency by multiple tenant situations - and it simply is no way to run a business.  Keep looking...