Credit Scores and Apartments for Rent

July 3rd, 2008 by Matt DiChiara| Posted in Apartment Living | 13 Comments »

One of the most common apartment guide questions that we hear is “What credit score do I need to rent an apartment?”

Your credit score is important, but a lot more than just one number goes into consideration when you are searching apartment rentals. Your landlord will put a lot more stock in how you have handled your previous rental payments than anything else.

Indeed, your credit report is an important document when it comes to searching apartments for rent. Apartment owners usually want to see your credit reports so that they know that you will be paying them your rent on time. Credit reports are reflections of your payment history and are used by banks, employers and credit card companies to determine the likelihood that you will pay your bills.

Credit reports are available from three major credit bureaus, Experian, TransUnion and Equifax, which all have their own ways of calculating credit scores. A TrueCredit 3-in-1 Credit Report can show you how each credit bureau compiles and reports your credit history as well as enable you to see discrepancies between them.

A credit report contains information on how you have paid your bills. The three credit bureaus collect information from lenders, landlords, insurance companies, utilities and credit card companies to generate a report on how likely you are to pay back a debt.

Your credit report contains identifying information, credit history, public records, and inquiries. Although this sounds self explanatory, be sure to review this information as it may vary across lenders or companies that report to the credit bureaus.

Your credit history will include all lines of credit under your name, including credit cards, student loans, bank loans, mortgages. The report will include the dates and details on monthly payments, how much you took out and how much you still owe. Your credit history is weighted by payment history (35%), amounts owed (30%), length of credit history (15%), types of credit (10%), and new credit (10%).

credit-score-50.jpg

The public records section reports on situations when a failure to pay a debt becomes a public matter, such as a tax lien or if you file for bankruptcy. Hopefully your public records section is clean, as these matters can have serious negative consequences for your creditworthiness. The final section, inquiries, shows who requested a copy of your credit report and when it was requested.

Apartment owners then either make a ‘hard inquiry,’ when they contact the credit bureau directly, or a ‘soft inquiry,’ where they ask you to provide a credit report before you rent an apartment. Repeated ‘hard inquiries’ can adversely affect your credit score so be careful how many times apartment owners or lenders have pulled your credit report.

Having bad credit may restrict you from some apartment complexes, but there is no need to fret if your credit is less than perfect and you are amidst an apartment search. Many apartment owners will contact your previous landlord to see if you were timely and consistent with your rent payments.

If you do have less than perfect credit, be sure to get a recommendation from your previous landlord emphasizing your reliability and timeliness on rent payments. Or if there are significant problems that your credit report will display be sure to have a letter of explanation written.

We will revisit this topic with further detail in upcoming apartment living blog articles, but we have found some helpful and easy to digest information over at Video Credit Score, which is a video blog with helpful tips regarding understanding and improving your credit history.

What has your experience been? Have you been denied from an apartment rental based solely on your credit score?

13 Responses to “Credit Scores and Apartments for Rent”

  1. Landlords Insurancesays:
    July 4, 2008 at 5:50 am

    My landlord forced me to pay a contribution to his insurance policy outside of my rental payments. I refused as this was not agreed in our contract and consequently I am now scared he will give me a bad reference if I need to get credit.

    I researched this and found out that he cannot do this and records will prove I have always made my payments on time. I know that if credit is need he wouldn’t have grounds to deny me a good report.

    Reply
  2. nelsonsays:
    July 4, 2008 at 11:07 pm

    here’s a helpful post: http://www.mattcutts.com/blog/free-credit-report/

    Reply
  3. christinasays:
    August 27, 2008 at 2:52 pm

    i have terrible credit and i need a place for my 2 girls and 1 boy can you help me or direct me in the right direction

    Reply
  4. Matt DiChiarasays:
    August 28, 2008 at 11:49 am

    Hey Christina, check out http://www.mynewplace.com/apartment-guide for more info.

    you can send me an email from that page if you still need some answers.

    thanks!

    Reply
  5. carluewsays:
    November 18, 2008 at 5:41 pm

    I found something called a cpn number that will
    give you a new credit profile within 30 days.

    Reply
  6. Discount Landlord Insurancesays:
    July 31, 2009 at 6:12 am

    Well written! this article does explain thoroughly on the issue of Tenants’ Credit Score. Providing credit score can safeguard the landlords and will also help them to measure tenants’ liability.

    Reply
  7. LAYANAsays:
    December 26, 2009 at 11:30 am

    I Recently went through a messy divorce in which my ex-husband and I own a home. He was court ordered to pay the mortgage for 3 years. Needless to say he hasnt done so in 5 months . The home is in forclosure status. I have went through his chain of command in the army, Red Cross, Inspector General and know one can be of help to me. I am struggling and although i have a job the problem is with my credit and the mortgage in which he is deliberately trying to forclose so he wont have to pay. i took a job out of state to try to recover but have been staying from hotels and people that I hardly know who have limited to no space. I applied for income based apartments and got denied twice because of credit. I need help finding an income based apartment or home that isnt based on credit. I would like locations in the Lexington and Columbia, South Carolina area. Can someone help my family and I please.

    Reply
  8. layanasays:
    February 5, 2010 at 2:03 pm

    Layana and others

    You can do what i did when i was in my 20′s when i had no credit and i made low wages which was i rented from local landlord(s) who owned duplexes and mobile homes as the owners of these places never cared about my credit as long as i had a deposit and first month rent i never had a problem. Also check out weekly motels with kitchenettes as most go for around $100 to $150 a week ($400-$600 month) and that includes all utilities/cable tv and no deposit which will help until you find a place for rent.

    Good luck.
    harry

    Reply
  9. Robert Pluthsays:
    March 2, 2010 at 1:04 pm

    I recently had bogus bad credit debts on my credit report and challenge the validity of them. As a result all my credit history was expunged and I now have no credit history whatsoever. How will landlords view this?

    Reply
  10. Mariasays:
    August 4, 2010 at 11:40 pm

    i have bad credit from just credit cards,i am about to get married and we are looking for an appartment to rent his credit is in good standing and i dont work im a full time student how bad can this affect us in getting a nice place? i have never rented before but he has

    Reply
  11. jennysays:
    August 10, 2010 at 11:02 am

    i have a public record and trying to find a home for me and my 9 yrs old son and we have to leave our current place what do i do

    Reply
  12. Deesays:
    June 6, 2011 at 9:43 pm

    That’s a lie. Landlords are denying my sister soley on her credit score. They take her $30 for the check AND DENY HER. She has explained the bad divorce that took her credit down the drain and pleaded that they contact her job and her past landlord where she lived for five years and paid MORE rent (NYC) with the same salary, but they say, “No. Your credit score is enough”. Why is this legal???! This is so unfair. She has to live with me and it’s not like she was trying to get a posh apartment in an upscale neighborhood. I’m so mad.

    Reply
  13. angelasays:
    October 16, 2011 at 1:54 pm

    I need to move right now and because the place I am staying has went under foreclosure and they are still get the rent money. The bank has it right now and the reviews about the place is bad. Its a shame that a person work hard for the money to keep a roof over their heads and with children living the household. The place is roach infested, you can not paint to make it feel like a home. They do not want to fix nothing and waiting for everyone to move out. People need to stand up for what they believe in when it comes to living like a slave.

    Reply

Leave a Reply

 

Ask A Question

We'll answer it on our blog!

Send us your question     

 

Renters Guide

Become an expert on everything apartment related … read more

 

What Kind of Roommate are You?

The kind who leaves socks everywhere? Or the elusive, 'Awesome' Roommate?

Start the Quiz

Facts and Figures

Want to calculate average rent for your city? Interested in rental trends and industry statistics? MyNewPlace has always been a big fan of using data to draw meaningful conclusions about the multifamily and apartment rental industry. Here we share our findings with you!

Read More

Categories

Recent Comments