You did the right thing by not accepting partial move-in money. And always insist that husband and wife - or couples appear together IN PERSON to EACH fill out and sign their individual applications. Always collect the credit check fees in CASH.
You should never "assume" anything. And your prospective tenants should not assume that your brief ad tells them everything. That is what your telephone screening does.
You tell people about the rest of your requirements when they call in response to your ad.
Your basic criteria should be something along these lines: 1. Income must be 3 times the monthly rent amount. 2. Credit check is required on all applicants over 18. 3. Prior rental history is required. 4. First month's rent plus 2 months security deposit required before moving in. Are they employed, etc.
But be careful with the questioning because you do not want to scare them away and remember that you can't discriminate but you can reject based on insufficient data, incomplete applications, etc.
Just ask the main questions regarding income and employment, who and how many will be renting, if they are now renting and why are they moving, etc.
You make the final determination and judgment if and when they view the property.
If I get bad vibes from someone calling, then I go the limit on my criteria to discourage them especially if I hear screaming, crying, lots of noise in the background, dog barking, etc.
The credit check fee and 2 months security usually gets them to back off because they know their credit is not good and they don't have the up-front money.
--68.229.xx.xx