topic Re: Renting with bad credit in Rebuilding Your Credit

Renting with bad credit

mrsdrmcghee — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:07:45 GMT

My husband and I are planning on moving our of our current touwnhome and I wanted to know what our chances are of getting approved for a new place to rent.

We rent and have been renting this townhouse since 2002 with no late payments ever.

We are a single income family, as I'm currently a full time student at a university. He makes good money ($85,000 +) and has been working for a major company since July 2007

I do get financial aid in the form of academic scholarships, but I'm not sure if that counts as income??

His credit scores are 612 (equifax) 640 (transunion) and 649 (experian)

Mine are 635 (equifax) 652 (transunion) and 665 (experian)

We haven't had to go through this process in such a long time, so I don't know what looks good and what doesn't. I'm concerned that we may not be desirable tenants because of our lower credit scores.

Thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

Re: Renting with bad credit

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:17:30 GMT

Your credit scores are fine for renting. Even then, if for some reason you have trouble, there are many rental options that don't pull credit scores. We currently rent from a husband and wife who own multiple homes and they don't check credit. I wouldn't worry if I were you. In fact, your mid scores are good enough for an FHA home loan.

Re: Renting with bad credit

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:22:16 GMT

Hi mrsdrmcghee

Based off of what you shared, I don't see any problems for you. Most landlords heavily weigh past rental history and income. You seem to be in good shape with both. Of course, it depends on what type (and the cost) of housing you're searching for as each landlord will have their own standards.

I don't see your credit scores being an issue, unless there is a recent bankruptcy or unpaid rental judgment on your credit report, then that may generate a denial or a higher deposit. But on the surface, it seems you shouldn't have any problems!

Good luck!

Re: Renting with bad credit

mrsdrmcghee — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:36:05 GMT

Oh great!! Thank you so much!

We don't have any rental judgments or judgments in general and have never filed for bankruptcy.

This is the only rental we've ever lived in. We were in our very early 20's when we rented it and have never been late and have a good relationship with the property management.

I just didn't want to make any moves without knowing if it's even possible. We definitely need more space, but don't want to buy until I graduate next year and find a job.

Thank you for your feedback! I really appreciate it.

Re: Renting with bad credit

2b2rich — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 16:58:03 GMT

@mrsdrmcghee wrote:
My husband and I are planning on moving our of our current touwnhome and I wanted to know what our chances are of getting approved for a new place to rent.

We rent and have been renting this townhouse since 2002 with no late payments ever.
We are a single income family, as I'm currently a full time student at a university. He makes good money ($85,000 +) and has been working for a major company since July 2007
I do get financial aid in the form of academic scholarships, but I'm not sure if that counts as income??
His credit scores are 612 (equifax) 640 (transunion) and 649 (experian)
Mine are 635 (equifax) 652 (transunion) and 665 (experian)

We haven't had to go through this process in such a long time, so I don't know what looks good and what doesn't. I'm concerned that we may not be desirable tenants because of our lower credit scores.

Thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

I don't think you have anything to worry about unless you apply at some ritzy property who feels they only one 800+- FICO scores (and there aren't a lot of them who are this much of a stickler, and mainly because it borders discrimination practices).

Your scores are fine for most apartments, and also, most apartments are only looking for one thing, and that is too see if you owe another rental property money. I know people who were approved with scores in the high 400, low 500s because they had no negative debt being reported by a rental/leasing creditor. Besides, if something like that were on your report, you'd know it.

Good luck with your search for a new place!

Re: Renting with bad credit

crrredit — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 17:07:46 GMT

If you have a good long-standing relationship with your current property manager, maybe talk to them about wanting a bigger place. They might have something available.

Re: Renting with bad credit

Anonymous — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 17:10:34 GMT

@mrsdrmcghee wrote:
My husband and I are planning on moving our of our current touwnhome and I wanted to know what our chances are of getting approved for a new place to rent.

We rent and have been renting this townhouse since 2002 with no late payments ever.
We are a single income family, as I'm currently a full time student at a university. He makes good money ($85,000 +) and has been working for a major company since July 2007
I do get financial aid in the form of academic scholarships, but I'm not sure if that counts as income??
His credit scores are 612 (equifax) 640 (transunion) and 649 (experian)
Mine are 635 (equifax) 652 (transunion) and 665 (experian)

We haven't had to go through this process in such a long time, so I don't know what looks good and what doesn't. I'm concerned that we may not be desirable tenants because of our lower credit scores.

Thoughts?

Thank you in advance.

I does tend to vary from one real estate market to another. I would suggest some informal calls to various rental companies that you may potentially be interested in renting from and just ask what the credit requirements are and how "firm" those requirements are.

Re: Renting with bad credit

mrsdrmcghee — Thu, 04 Jun 2015 20:00:36 GMT

Great! Thank you for all of the info. We live in the largest property they have here and are actually looking to rent a house now. We've found a few houses that fit what we're looking for and aren't actually managed by a property management company. We're going to look at one of them this Sunday.

I really hope we're able to find something. Our credit scores are the way they are because of some past money management issues, but those issues are over 4 years old. We've always paid our cars, rent, and utilities on time though.