If you have poor credit, meaning a score between 300 and 579, you may have trouble renting an apartment if you live in a city where credit checks are part of the rental process. You can do a few things to rent Bad credit apartments, including putting up a larger deposit upfront, finding a co-signer, and showing proof of a stable job that pays well. However, you may have to work on improving your credit score and wait to move on until it has risen.
Check Your Credit Score
You better know what you’re getting into before a prospective landlord turns down your apartment application because of your credit score.
Find Apartments That Don’t Require Credit Checks
If you choose this course, you’ll probably have fewer alternatives, but you might be able to find certain advertisements on websites that clearly state whether or not a credit check is necessary. As with any rental property, you should double-check that everything is in writing and that the lease you’re about to sign is binding on both parties. This goes double for places that don’t perform credit checks.
Be Prepared To Pay More Up Front
Having less than perfect credit does not mean an application will automatically be denied. Just be prepared to (or offer, if you want the place) to pay a little more upfront through an increased security deposit or a few months’ rent in advance to ease any landlord worries.
Get Yourself a Co-Signer
Some cities require a co-signer for apartments if you do not earn above a certain income based on the monthly rent charged. But even if your apartment doesn’t need one, getting a co-signer could be the answer to your Bad credit apartments for rent problems.
A co-signer signs a legal document stating that they will be responsible for making those payments on your behalf if you miss a payment. This means that any co-signers you get must be someone you trust and who trusts you, as their credit could be negatively affected by any mistakes you make with your rent.
Prove Your Worth
Showing up prepared is a great way to impress landlords that you’re serious about your rental application, even if you don’t have the credit to back it up.
Bring some recent financial documents showing your income for the last few months – especially if you earn a good salary – and consider getting some letters of recommendation. If you can get letters from a previous owner stating that you were trustworthy and trustworthy, that could work wonders.
Sign A Lease With Someone Else
Again, this requires a bit of trust, but if you’d be fine with getting an apartment with a roommate – and you can find someone who wants to live with you – you could have the application run on your credit score. Roommate, then you could make your rent payments directly to them. However, this won’t work in all situations, as some landlords require all occupants to be on the lease.
Offer Some Concessions
Especially if the Apartment rentals for bad credit have been on the market for a while and the landlord hopes to rent it out quickly, you might be able to make some negotiations within the lease that make you more desirable as an applicant, despite your poor credit. For example, you could offer to set up automatic payments, so the landlord never has to chase you to pay rent.
Show Off Your Savings Account
Rentals for bad credit might help to show that you’re responsible in other areas of your finances, even if you haven’t achieved a desirable credit score yet. For example, if you have enough money in an emergency fund to cover a couple of months’ rent, be sure to bring those statements as the backup to show that you have the means to pay.
Consider Waiting
You don’t want to do any of the above. You can always wait to find the apartment of your dreams until you can increase your score. There are many ways to improve your score; including paying down debt, keeping your credit card balances low, and becoming an authorized user of someone else’s account.
