How to Rent an Apartment with Bad Credit
If hoping to rent a luxury or nice apartment with bad credit, consider the following tips for getting your application approved.
1. Get a Letter of Recommendation
If the apartment complex rejects your rental application due to poor credit, offer to submit a letter of recommendation from your previous landlord. In some instances, apartment leasing departments want to ensure that the applicant has a good rental payment history. In other word, if you've been late on credit card or auto loan payments, but consistently paid your previous rent on time, the leasing agent may approve your application. On the other hand, if rental payments are habitually late, or if you've been evicted from an apartment, this destroys your chances of getting approved for a new apartment.
2. Offer to Pay Several Month's Rent in Advance
Apartment leasing departments refuse applications for various reasons. The main reason is bad credit or poor rental history. A good way to make sure that your application is approved is to offer to pay several month's rent in advance. Negotiate with your landlord and establish an affordable arrangement. This effort displays your seriousness and willingness to cooperate. Of course, in order to do this, you must have the available cash, or be able to borrow the funds. Propose the arrangement prior to completing a rental application and submitting an application fee. Review your credit before applying, and anonymously contact the apartment leasing department and inquire about rental requirements. Some complexes aren't concern with credit history, whereas many luxury or upscale apartment complexes have strict rental requirements.
3. Get a Co-signer
If you can't qualify for an apartment on your own merit, consider getting a co-signer or putting the apartment in someone else's name. Rental contracts are not reflected on credit reports, and won't lower your co-signers credit score. On the other hand, if you fail to adhere to the rental agreement, the apartment will seek payment from the co-applicant. Before asking someone to co-sign your lease, make sure that you are fully capable of paying the monthly rent.
Published by V.C. Higuera
Freelance personal finance and health writer from Chesapeake, VA View profile
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8 Comments
Post a Commentit is illegal to ask for a credit cosigner or ask for credit as long as u have a job ad u can the cant den remmber apartmetn complex have respect the law to .
Our Company is designed to give everyone a second chance despite past: Broken Leases, Foreclosures, and Bankruptcies. We are a rental guarantee service. To qualify you must have a job. Once you are signed up each and every month we report to the credit bureaus to help re-establish their credit. We also have a credit repair company that will take it even further. If no one sets up a program to help then folks will never ever get out of this situation. We have seen that when you have bad credit you’re limited to where you are allowed to live with your family. With our service you can live where you want not where you have to. You can go to www.ez-lease.net. The economy has effected allot of customers but this is a way to help them get their lives in order again. "You can have everything in life that you want if you just give enough other people what they want."
— Zig Ziglar
We have bad credit...was denied an apartment. Offered to sign a 6 month lease and pay it ALL up front...offered a co-signer....and higher deposit. The manager said very demeaningly..." with your credit history....I wouldn't even make you an offer." Wouldn't take 6 months up front because then they could not evict us. Said our credit history was so bad that she would not accept a cosigner or higher deposit. She did not want us living in her complex. Very frustrated..and upset.
Nicole
trying to rent a real nice apartment for 950 our Credit is not all that great but great renter ref and the past 4 years paid our bills every month..my husband has a great job making 12.000 a month you think that would be a big help?
Jessika you may want to consider buying a place instead of renting. In a property your buying even if not there for more then a few years you have lots of advantages: tax incentives, can do what you want ie put up walls knock down walls, get roommates w/o any approval, rent it out a higher pricer then your mortgage, etc. I knew of someone who bought a 4 bd townhouse mortgage of $1200 and rented each room besides there own for $350 + utilites split never including themselves in the utility split. Not the most upstanding way but they ended up with equity, improved the property while living there and now have the option to rent or sale later. Check out this link of an article I saw http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/246977/dont_rent_keep_living_with_your_parents.html
Great tips on getting an apartment. Thanks
Those are some good tips I just turned 20 and I'm already on the verge of moving out of state for school. I won't do roomies cause I want my Pyro,my pup, and Pika, my kitty, to come with me and don't want them to be that uncomfortable.
Good tips. My son, who is now 27, was 21 when he rented his first apartment. He was young and naive and wasn't thinking about the future ... and so he skipped out on the last month's rent. The charge eventually showed up on his credit report and the additional fees that collection agencies have added now make the cost more than he can afford to pay in order to get it off his credit report. So he can't rent an apartment in his own name.