Renting an apartment isn’t like checking into a hotel for the night. In fact, it is more like the process of buying a house than reserving a hotel room.
There are several different hoops that you are going to have to jump through before you can secure that dream apartment.
Why Do I Need A Credit Check?
A credit check is very common nowadays by landlords and managers to require for new applicants. A credit check is meant to give a history of how the tenant has handled making payments to his creditors in the past. If you have a good history, then you have nothing to worry about.
However, if you have had several cars repossessed and collections are coming after you for credit card debt, then more than likely they aren’t going to rent to you.
Checking your credit score with a credit agency is going to let you know where your individual number is.
Many times, the manager is simply looking to see if your credit score is within a certain range; they have no interest in going through pages of document to see if you ever made a late payment on your cell phone bill 5 years ago, they just want to see if you are generally creditworthy or not.
Normally, the credit range they are looking for is around 620 and above. If you have a credit score lower than this, statistically you are a higher risk of not being able to fulfill your lease agreement.
If this is the case, the landlord is going to either not rent to you at all or require additional assurances to feel comfortable letting you rent from them.
It isn’t the end-all in decision making for most managers, but most view it as at least as important as the background check.
Check your credit score for free right now with Credit Karma before you need to do it for an apartment application so there won’t be any surprises that will trip you up during the process.
What do I do if I don’t have a perfect credit score?
Straightening out your credit can take years. So what do you do if you need to rent an apartment and don’t have the best of credit?
Rent From An Individual Owner. Being able to show yourself to a real person is going to go along way in helping you obtain a rental.
Individual apartment owners, or ones who rent out their space privately, are not going to be spending the money that large complexes are on marketing.
Individual Owners also have the potential to be more understanding of your situation, and you will personally get a chance to tell them why your credit is poor and what you will do to compensate for it.
Individual owners are also going to be looking for someone to occupy their apartments at all times. Because they are paying the holding costs for each day it is not rented, they can be more inclined to rent.
Many times, they are willing to accept less-than-perfect tenants in exchange for just having it filled.
Pay A Few Month’s Rent Up Front. Cash is always, always, always going to speak louder than your words. If you have trouble with your credit and the landlord expresses concern about this, offer to pay 2 or 3 months in advance, on top of the security deposit they are going to require.
This gives the landlord a bit of assurance that you do, in fact, have the resources to rent their apartment and are going to be a good tenant.
Provide Good References. This can also be a huge benefit to someone with low credit. Sometimes simply being in the wrong relationship in the past can be the difference in having a good or bad credit score.
If you have references that are willing to vouch for you and your character, you are going to find the path to approval much easier. This doesn’t mean getting a reference letter from your mom or brother saying what a good person you are.
This means getting a letter from former apartments you have rented from, your boss at work, or any other professional, non-family related persons in your life. If these people are willing to put their name on a piece of paper and go to bat for you that is going to carry weight with the landlord.
Get A Co-Signer. Just like if you were trying to get a loan, a co-signer gives the person renting the apartment to you more security that your obligation is going to be met.
Whoever you have signed the lease with you is tied into their contract as well, so they are going to make sure you make good on your obligations or they are going to be on the hook for your rent.
This can be a good solution for younger people who have just moved out of their house for school or work and have willing parents willing to sign the lease with them.
Going Through A Background Check
This is a step for everyone’s safety and security at the complex. Believe it or not, there are bad people out there and doing a background check is the easiest way to screen these bad apples out of the selection process.
Doing a background check usually costs the apartment complex around $25-$40 bucks, which they will pass on to you upfront, so expect that to happen, just like the credit check.
The background check will show your criminal record and any charges that are pending as well as if you have been evicted before, have judgments against you, or if you are a sex offender.
Anything that shows up positive on your background check is probably going to be grounds for not renting an apartment to that person.
These checks usually go back 7 years, while other things such as if you are on the sex offender list, is going to show up there for life.
Will The Landlord Require Me To Show Proof Of My Income?
Chances are if they require a credit check, they are going to want proof of income as well. Many complexes even require certain limits for what you can rent from them based on what you make.
The most common type of stipulation is that you make at least 40x the monthly apartment’s rent for your yearly income. This means if your apartment costs $1,000 per month, that your yearly income is at least $40,000.
If your landlord requires this, they are more than likely going to want to see pay stubs or direct deposit receipts from your bank account to verify that you do actually make as much as you put down on the application.
Make sure to list your Gross Income, not your Net Income, which are two vastly different amounts. Your Gross Income is the total amount of money you make for the year.
This is before taxes and expenses are taken out. When the application asks how much you make, be sure you put down your gross income, not your net income.
How Long Does The Application Process Take?
Usually, the entire application process only takes a few days, and some are done within 24 hours. The majority of the time is taken up due to the credit check and background check, which the apartment complex relies on third parties to do, so the timetable is usually out a couple days.
Besides the checks that you will have to pay for as part of your application process, if you want to move in quicker, having all the information you need handy for the manager is going to expedite the process tremendously.
This means having your proof of income, check stubs, compensation agreement from work, and whatever else you are going to provide handy. Additionally, if you have letters of reference, make sure you have copies of those to give to the manager when you come in to apply.
If the application is done online, submit the documents there and then if you can. If there isn’t a place to submit the documents, call the manager of the complex, let them know that you just submitted an application and are going through the background and credit check, and ask if there is an address you can email the remaining documents to.
This lets the manager know you are serious about renting with them, and your name will stand out when the application comes through on their end.
Also, ask the manager for a time when you can come and walk through the unit and they can show you around the complex. Always make sure you do a thorough walk-through before you end up renting, you want to be as sure of what you are renting on your end as the landlord is about who they are renting to.
While the entire application process can be just a few short days, having a good credit report, clean background check, good rental history, and reference letters are going to expedite the process for you to move into your new apartment.
