Question

Jaina and Tomas are being considered as new tenants in an apartment. The landlord looks at their creditworthiness because he wants to be sure his new tenant pays the rent on time and in full. The table below summarizes the information that was on their applications.

Application information
Questions
Jaina
Tomas
How many years have you had your job?
5
2
What is your monthly salary?
$1,850
$2,500
How many credit cards do you have?
4
1
How much debt do you have?
$13,000
$7,000
How many times were you late with payments on credit cards in the past year?
5
1

Who will the landlord decide to be more creditworthy and why?
Tomas because the ratio of his debt to income is less.
Jaina because she has had her job longer, which makes her look more stable.
Jaina because she has more credit cards available to her.
Tomas because he makes more money per month.

Answer 1

Tomas — because his debt-to-income ratio is lower. He earns more, has less debt, and fewer late payments, so he’s more likely to pay rent on time.