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When I had last looked for an apartment in NYC I had a score of 620. My income was more than sufficient for the place but with that score, they wanted a cosigner. Another building didn't care what my score was, as long as there wasn't a collection from a previous rental.
I'm not sure what requirements are like in NYC, but I know out on the West Coast, leasing offices tend to be quite open about FICO score requirements. You can always ask to see about getting that info. As for raising your scores, you may want to look at the Understanding FICO Score section to make sure you're using your CCs to your advantage as much as possible for optimal scoring. Definitely keep working the baddies, too!
I'm near Chicago and going through the same thing right now and almost identical scores to yours... 599,608,611... its competetive around us because of the school district, everybody wants in this neighborhood... Here they definately want to see income at least 3xs the rental price. Usually last 2 paycheck stubs, the more references you can give the better, Its not my first rental so at least I have the advantage of a landlord reference and current utliity bills to help combat the score problem but what I find here is looking at places for rent by owner gets you much farther than looking through the real estate rental listings (which the majority of the rentals in our neighborhood are) Places for rent by owner seem to have much more tolerance for lower scores/exceptions, especially if you make a good first impression. Thats your best opportunty to make a connection. We look at a lot of rentals through Real Estate Agents and they feed the paperwork to the landlord/owner for a decision. I hate that someone is sizing me up and making a decision on where my family will be allowed to live based only the credit report. Some will look at the score or income and flat out say no, others might be willing to take the risk if you sign a longer lease term, pay 2 months up front or get a cosigner.. Whatever you do, I'd be as honest up front as possible that you are rebuilding. They will find out anyways once they run the check so they may as well hear it from you first and hopefully give you recommendations of what they would need that would build their confidence in taking you on as a tenant.
I've written before on this, but in case you're still curious or others are looking, I think income matters more than recent credit, and recent credit matters more than past credit. I hope it worked out for you!
@Anonymous wrote:
Thanks. I'm going to pay off the few collections I have left so when my credit report is checked it shows everything is paid off.
Most rental places are only going to be concerned about property related collections - unpaid rent/leases, utilities, phone services, ect.