Getting an apartment without having inqs shoot through the roof

[mjb59463]

Hey everyone,
So I'm looking at getting an apartment in Los Angeles soon (next 1-2 months) due to receiving a job offer there and have started getting everything prepared for that. My credit scores are great, util is around 4% currently.

However, I've had one major issue with renting in the past. I've filled out multiple apps and have had apartment leasing companies go crazy with the hard pulls, which seriously drops my credit score. I don't want them to do this again.

In a fast-paced rental market like LA, I will have to apply to around 3-5 different places conservatively, and possibly even more.

Is there any way to get them to look at a credit report that I pull myself? Or to only consent to an SP?

Any ideas on how to minimize the damage from inquiries will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

[enjoimorenow]

You will have to ask what they are willing to do.  Some may be ok with doing a soft pull, but it will be up to them and their policies.

Other than that you can freeze your accounts so that you have to give them a code to pull your credit report.

This will ensure that you only get a HP when you want to.

The good thing is that even with multiple inquiries they should stop affecting your score after about 6 months.  

[mjb59463]

Will lenders take notice of that quantity of inquiries and perform AA of any sort?

[enjoimorenow]

I wouldn't think so, unless your profile is hiding other things that would cause them to AA you.  Creditors understand that people will have inquiries.  You will try to rent a place, get a mortgage, shop for car loans, open credit cards... these are normal things.  I mean if you opened 15 cards in a week and started to carry balances on them, then maybe they would have a reason to be concerned and AA you.  

An inquiry by itself is not a bad thing, and doesn't even necessarily mean that you opened more debt.  You could get an inquiry for the place you are trying to rent, an inquiry for applying for a savings account at a credit union, and an inquiry to get cable at your new place all in one day.  These are normal actions and not reason for your creditors to be concerned.

[Anonymous]

Ask them to code it as a soft pull, as you are not applying for credit. 

[bz386]

I don't see why anyone would have to do a hard pull before you sign the lease. I was looking for an apartment in the Bay Area last year and probably looked at around 10-15 apartments or so. Only the one I signed a lease for did a hard pull.

[sarge12]

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@mjb59463 wrote:
Hey everyone,
So I'm looking at getting an apartment in Los Angeles soon (next 1-2 months) due to receiving a job offer there and have started getting everything prepared for that. My credit scores are great, util is around 4% currently.

However, I've had one major issue with renting in the past. I've filled out multiple apps and have had apartment leasing companies go crazy with the hard pulls, which seriously drops my credit score. I don't want them to do this again.

In a fast-paced rental market like LA, I will have to apply to around 3-5 different places conservatively, and possibly even more.

Is there any way to get them to look at a credit report that I pull myself? Or to only consent to an SP?

Any ideas on how to minimize the damage from inquiries will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

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I know multiple pulls for motgages to compare in a short amount of time only count in scoring as one pull...would it not be the same for apartments?