Rebuilding Your Credit

[kamiS]

Thanks for your encouragement - I'm keeping strong! Its funny - I told one guy don't judge me by my credit score - I make $15,000 a month and willing to pay a double security deposit.  And all they care about is a score? It baffles me.  Somewith with perfect credit may not be able to afford the rent.  plus no evictions, no bankruptcies, and I have a great rental history.  But I 'm still looking and positive.  I have three weeks to find something.

[KnewBee]

Kami, +1 on your last post. I have a similar situation, high income but horrible credit. I have even had places turn me down when offering to pay the 6 month lease in full! Turning me down when paying cash made no sense (although generally I can understand a landlords concern with credit, if I owned a house i would be cautious about renting  it too) The  advice others have posted is good, shopping around, pulling your own credit to show landlords so you don't get inquiries offering high deposits, and also being able to show canceled checks or letters of reference from prior landlords. Shopping around is the biggest thing as landlords guidelines very widely. You can search rental websites, by minimum credit or bad credit to see those listings first. 

One thing I did last time I rented was just started talking to everyone I know and work with and asking if they knew any good rentals. It turned out a casual acquaintance of mine was renting their own place (very nice and newer) and since they knew me did no credit check. I did get very lucky on this, but a lot of homeowners don't want to sell now due to low market and would rather rent than sell and would rather rent to someone they already know.  If you can find someone you already know or even a friend of friend that is renting they often wont do a credit check. Again this ones a long shot, but doesn't hurt to try and start asking people you know and you might get lucky.

Best of luck! 

[igids1]

Where are you looking? Search for home rentals on craigslist. With that kind of income you will not have any issue.

[kamiS]

Thanks for your suggestion.  At 1st I was leary about craigslist but I've been contacting a few listings in the past two days and noticed most of my responses are the actual owners.  Huge Plus.  I'm online now emailing a few.  Craigslist just may do the trick!

[Jutz]

Craigslist varies by area in terms of helpfulness, but i've used it to find 4 or 5 places to rent.  One of the catalysts to starting my credit rebuilding was having to find someone who didn't require a specific credit check because I was embarassed to have it be seen.  I decided then I didn't want to worry about being in that situation again.

[LIGHTNIN]

Hi and Welcome to the forums,

I thought I would jump in and let you know, about the guidelines in my county.

They do ask for a CR, but they are not looking at the scores, they are looking to see if you owe anyone for rent.

Also landlords ask for letters from prior landlords, to see if you pay the rent on time.

So as long as you don't owe anyone for back rent and have letters showing a few years of paying on time, you are good to go.

Good luck to you.  As said before, talk with everyone family,co-workers,church, friends and friends of friends.

Other places to look...... Local free papers, college paper if a college is near to you.

Oh come to think of it......The last place I rented before I bought my house, was from the guy who cut my hair. LOL

He owned a beauty shop and a few rental houses too. 

[Chicla]

Hi kamiS. I wasn't sure what your current living situation is, but if you are renting, you can quickly use a reputable credit building service like RentReporters.com where they report your rental history (up to 2 years) for a one time fee and your ongoing monthly rental payments to the credit bureaus - for a monthly fee - with nothing more than giving them some basic information and landlord contact information. Next time you apply for a lease, the landlord will pull your credit report and see your rental payment history on your credit profile, I think it shows as a trade line, but don't quote me. I don't know if it effects the credit score, but you ARE building credit - both from the past history and ongoing. It's the fastest and easiest way I know of to build credit. Good luck!

[llecs]

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Chicla wrote:

Hi kamiS. I wasn't sure what your current living situation is, but if you are renting, you can quickly use a reputable credit building service like RentReporters.com where they report your rental history (up to 2 years) for a one time fee and your ongoing monthly rental payments to the credit bureaus - for a monthly fee - with nothing more than giving them some basic information and landlord contact information. Next time you apply for a lease, the landlord will pull your credit report and see your rental payment history on your credit profile, I think it shows as a trade line, but don't quote me. I don't know if it effects the credit score, but you ARE building credit - both from the past history and ongoing. It's the fastest and easiest way I know of to build credit. Good luck!

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IMO, skip this service. It won't report to all 3 reports and FICO will ignore it even if it did report. 

[electra]

I feel your pain. Just went through something similar.  Knew I was going to have to move and that was actually the catalyst that made me start down this credit cleanup warpath.  I was really scared but it worked out GREAT.

I'm in the Bay Area of CA which has a RIDICULOUS rental market right now..super competitive, owners market. Like you, pretty high income...crappy credit.  What I did was immediately start my cleanup effort, DV's and PFDs...was able to get a good CC with NFCU and get my score up from 580 to I think around 660.   The other thing I did was to create a "rental resume". (NOT kidding)  I put together, literally, a resume, complete with photo of my son and myself, a section on "why you should rent to me", "income", "credit" (explanations and that my folks with spotless credit would cosign).    I would show up for appointments with completed application, resume, credit report, and business card ready to hand over a deposit check.  I was able to get a REALLY nice place in a big time competition with 6 other highly qualified candidates that way.   She just liked me better and I had a compelling story.  

Good luck and hang in there, I'm sure you'll find something!

[ktl72455]

I currently own 5 rentals and have had excellent renters and they have all came from craigslist. I do not pull credit reports. My credit sucks but I got cash so who am I to judge!

I do require a 6mo signed contract, 4 non family references and a letter from current landlord.

Also on craigslist do a search in property and type in owner finance or owner financed or land contract. You will find places where there is no bank needed, I have bought 4 properties this way and all 4 are currently rented and paying for themselves. With your income you could be buying a house on contract instead of renting. Just my opion.