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Apartment hunting

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Anonymous
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Apartment hunting

Hey Folks,

I am in the process of trying to find an apartment. I have never rented from a professional management company, only from individuals. I am getting discouraged by the fact that most places say they will do a credit check. My credit is still pretty poor 558-605, and I am worried that I will get denied based on that. Does anyone have any experience with this? Is your credit score a large part of the decision? Will they do a hard pull or just a soft inquiry of my credit?

Message 1 of 4
3 REPLIES 3
crrredit
Established Contributor

Re: Apartment hunting

They probably have a cut off score for automatic approval. They often use a service like LeasingDesk.com to do their checks. And it will be a hard pull. Below their cut off score there will be a score range where they will do a manual check of your report. Your income will factor in. If you're borderline they might ask for a larger security deposit. Any outstanding account with another apartment complex will probably be a deal killer, but since you have only rented from individuals you probably won't have an issue there.They also have a rental history report to check, so if you have a lot of late pays or an eviction you might have problems. Once you find an apartment you like, ask them what their policies are for acceptance. Some have it all spelled out online.

Message 2 of 4
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Apartment hunting

Two of my clients are sizable property management companies, so this is based on my experience working with them. First, it will be a hard pull. Second they do a manual review of the file. In other words, while the score is part of it, you won't be automatically declined based solely on the score. Third, the causes for the low scores will be important. You cannot have any open collections. If you have a bankruptcy, it must be discharged. On the latter, some require a certain period of time after the discharge, but most don't. You cannot have any charge offs from previous apartments / landlords. All of this, of course, may vary from company to company, but these are the basics.

 

Bottom line is if you don't have any of the above, and the baddies have a little bit of age, and you have some good rent history that can be verified, and you meet the income requirements, (for most this is three times the rent), you may be able to find a palce.

Message 3 of 4
Anonymous
Not applicable

Re: Apartment hunting

Ask them directly what they look for before letting them pull. It varies greatly, some want a certain score, some don't care about score, but do a manual review for specific items. In my case they didn't really care about score, but they would not approve you if you had any 'property related' items that were unpaid - meaning unpaid rents, rental damages/cleaning expenses and unpaid utilities.

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