Perhaps you’ve been evicted, or you have a bad rep for late payments. Maybe you’ve left a previous apartment without doing or paying for necessary repairs. How do apartments check rental history? It goes beyond credit.
Applications generally require prospective tenants to include previous addresses, which will lead to the discovery of less-than-stellar references, broken leases or damage done. Read on for some tips on increasing your chances if your rental history is lacking.
Many apartment complexes are flexible on security deposits. Tenants with great credit may not have to pay one at all, while others with lower scores do. Offer your landlord the largest possible security deposit you can afford. Having that money in escrow gives him or her more insurance if you miss payments or damage anything.
Look for smaller communities or multifamily options where you may be dealing directly with a landlord instead of the employees at a large, faceless property management company. Your reference letters, along with a solid demeanor when you meet and make that first impression, may win you some bonus points. Being liked and trusted goes a long way.
If it’s likely someone’s going to speak to the landlord you left in the lurch, having great references to counter this bad review can tip the scales more in your favor. Ask trusted and respectable sources – your employer, for example, who can not only vouch for your reliability but reaffirm that your income is steady and secure.
You might also find it helpful to reveal any past incident (particularly if there’s only one) up front. Honesty may win you points over having it come out in discovery. You could also get out in front of the problem and perhaps erase it altogether. Talking to your former landlord – in particular apologizing and paying any outstanding debts – could win you a clean record when your prospective landlord comes calling.
A roommate with a good history to offset your bad one not only helps balance the scales, but it also lightens your financial load, making it that much easier to pay your bills!
It may not be precisely what you’d hoped for, but you could get a larger apartment in exchange for the space-sharing.
A reliable co-signer can make a big dent in what the landlord perceives as your risk-level. A co-signer with good credit history and solid employment ensures that if you don’t pay your rent, someone will. And in the end, that’s really what the landlord wants.