Paid Collection, Fico Scores, and Rental Applications

[Anonymous]

I have a paid collection that tanked my Fico 8 score below 650 for TransUnion and am worried about being able to find rental housing because of it.  Every place I looked at, the property manager said they do a credit score check with the minimum being 650, some places a bit higher at 670 or even 700.

My Fico 8 scores are currently 658, 701, and 637 for Experian, Equifax, and TransUnion.  I just paid my full credit card balance which will raise them roughly 10-20 points but will have to wait for the next reporting date.

Now, since the collection is paid my Fico 9 and CreditVantage 3.0 scores are around 740 across the board which is more than enough.  That being said, none of the property managers could give me a straight answer on what exact score system they use.  I even offered to pre-pay a significant portion of the lease, including all of it, but they said they didn't care, it's all about the number to most of them.

Any advice on how to navigate these risky waters?  Sadly a lease co-signer is not an option.

[Anonymous]

The property manager will not have a clue what scoring model they use. They send in your data to corporate (if it’s a large complex) or a service any get the Roman thumbs up or down.

Wait for your balances to update

Eliminate the 700 places (sorry)

Concentrate on the 650-670 places. Narrow you choices down to 1-2 places. 

Make sure everything else on your app is buttoned up. DTI and employment history, prior reseidences.

They will check Core Logic to make sure you didn’t have any problems at former residences.

[Anonymous]

You says you paid off your card balance. Are all of your cards at $0? You’ll take a penalty if they are. You need a small balance on one card to report.

Once you affirm that you have a balance on one card (in the range of $10), call your lender(s) and ask for an off-cycle reporting. Some will do this happily, like Discover. There are others too. This way you don’t have to wait for statement cycling to reflect your score improvements.

[newgirlintown]

So true! I paid off all of my cards when I was looking for an apartment thinking it would look good If I didn't have any balances. My score dropped 30 pts. I was heartbroken. I then made a small purchase and my score jumped back up. Had to learn that the hard way.