bad credit and renting

WElcome to the forums. You can register and have a debt counselor contact you. In some cases I do know that a credit score can affect your ability to rent. KYSIDE38

Unfortunetly, your credit score does matter for a lot of landlords. Chances are you may not be able to rent in one of the large, management run, complexes, or in one of the better neighborhoods. Your best bet would be to look in the paper for ads looking for renters in the smaller, one-person owned duplexes and apartments. A management company has certain criteria they have to stick with, but the average Joe Blow Landlord may not. Also, try placing an ad on craigslist looking for housing. Be honest and explain your credit situation. You may get lucky and someone will rent to you without caring about your past credit.

Debango - there are many income-based housing opportunities available, depending on where you live. Many of these apartment complexes are newer, well-maintained and the application process only involves income and employment verification - not a credit check. I looked into one myself, and was impressed with the management's attitude towards the maintenance of the apartments and their compassion for their tenants.

Perhaps that could be an option for you?

Thanks for your replies. Guys. Big help.

Debango

Thanks Suebeehoney70, You are awesome. Man, this is a cool forum! How do I find some of these income based housing opportunities? I live in MD

Debango

Debango - check with your local HUD office (Housing and Urban Development) or Housing Authority, and check your newspapers - they usually advertise locally. Look in the phone book under apartments or rentals and see what comes up there - I hope you are able to find something - but be sure to go on a visit to the complex before agreeing to anything - be sure you ask around about it, talk to family or friends - word of mouth reputation about housing like this is usually your best bet. See if you can talk to a couple of the tenants just by knocking on their door and see if they mind you asking a couple of questions about the complex and how things are there on a daily basis.

Debango - here's a link to the Maryland housing programs supported by the state government:

http://www.dhcd.state.md.us/Website/programs/programs_main.aspx

Also, just an FYI. A friend of mine who had very bad credit was able to get into a nice apartment complex. She had just had her bankruptcy discharged. The apartment manager told her as long as it was discharged and she had at least 1 year of paying her rent on time, they didn't even go by her credit report. Also, my sister-in-law had bad credit and had only paid her rent on time about half the time in the last year. They had her put down a double security deposit, the half of which she would get back after being there a year if her rent was paid on time each month. Between this and Sue's info, you should be able to get into a decent apartment. Good luck, and let us know how it goes.

Thanks for the info! You guys are so awesome!

Debango

As far as renting with bad credit, I echo the above sentiments. It almost depends on who you are dealing with. An eviction on your credit is a little more difficult (even though I know you have not been evicted).

Let me give you some advice about renting a HUD apartment. As stated above, I don't believe that it involves a credit check, but they do check out your rental history (obviously looking for evictions). I have lived in the same apartment complex for over 20 years---it is a strictly HUD complex. Your rent is calculated according to your income and number of dependents. The amount of income cannot exceed a certain cap for a certain number of people in a family. There is a deduction for each child under 18. If the head of household is a full-time student, only $400 of that person's income is considered for the year. Children over 18 (living in the home)have to be full-time students or working full-time. And their income is counted, unless they are a full-time student and then, again only $400 per year of that person's income is counted. HUD's criteria for renting one of these apartments has nothing to do with how much you owe on bills, just the money coming in to the household.

Realize that this information is for an all HUD complex. I don't know what if anything changes when dealing with other type of HUD situations.

I used to lease apartments for a leasing company. And we did rent to those with bad credit, but usually the potential tenant was diqualified from any deposit/rent special. And dependent upon how bad the credit was we would ask for first and last months rent upon signing of the lease. Your other option is to rent from a private landlord, these are typically people who have other jobs but own property and rent them out as additional income. You need to be careful with some private landlords, they could also be "slum lords" depending upon what part of town you are living in.

Thank you.

Has anyone moved from a house because he/she could not afford the payments anymore, into income based housing?

Be careful with income-based housing. Some of them are very nice and do a good job managing, but other's are no place to raise children, if you have them. I did after I lost my house, but that was years ago, so maybe it is a lot different now. It was difficult to get housing and to qualify. We were put on a waiting list and had to stay with family before something became available. I had to wait for a 3 bedroom because I had 3 children, 2 girls and 1 boy. Three bedrooms were as rare as rubies in my area, so I had to wait almost a year. When we moved in, it was a nightmare. They were new, nice and clean but I had a hard time with neighbors playing loud music, harrassing my children at the bus, etc. There was drug dealing going on and I did not want to expose my teenage children to that. We only lasted 3 months and I took on another job to cover rent for a duplex. Make sure you check out the place well before you decide to move in. I am sure there are some great places out there, but, if you have children, you need to know the facts first. I would really consider looking at craigslist.com, a lot of landlords post on there. A lot of them are just trying to find someone decent and won't trash their place.

Geez, you guys are bringing up memories. I moved into a HUD home from the homeless shelter with my kids. It was painted, had new appliances and donated furniture, but it was located in one of the worst parts of the city and we had to hit the floor whenever someone drove by shooting. Also, while the house had new carpeting, the floors were very spongy. After we completed the transitional program and moved into a different rental, the HUD home was condemned.

Also, like Steelers had said, if you have bad credit, there are apartment complexes that will rent to you as long as you don't owe any other apartment complex money from an eviction.