Finding a house to rent! HELP

[pinkcat]

I have a family of 5 with a dog. We filed for chptr. 13 about 3 years ago now. So, we are about halfway through. Anyway, we have been lucky enough to find landlords that we knew ahead of time and didn't require a credit check. But, we are now in a position to need to move quickly (lost a job and live in bosses house). So, how do others go about this? I contacted a real estate agency about a year ago before we moved in here and they said as long as we were in Chptr. 13, they wouldn't rent to us.

We can't move into an apt, and most of them have rules for BK that are worse than rental homes.

Any suggestions or any tips/tricks? We have legitimate rental references that are excellent going back ten years.

[Jman30]

pinkcat, I wish I had more experience in this area. You will probably have to do more research than you would if you were not in a chapter 13 to find a place. I would avoid rental agencies, as they can be picky. Find someone in your local newspaper who is renting a house. They may be more sympathetic to your situation, or may not even check your credit at all.

I know it is hard. My wife and I wish we could move - we found our dream home a couple of towns over for the perfect price but we are only halfway through our Chapter 13. So we are stuck and will miss out on our dream home.

[Minnymouth]

Yes, best thing you can do is rent from private individual...
If necessary supply them with a copy of payments to the court or previous landlord.....

Good luck, keep us posted.

[SinkingFast]

Pink,.........

Have you tried big apt complexes?? Someone here said they used to work at one where it took 2 black marks in credit to disqualify people. With good credit and only the BK, I'd think you'd qualify. I'd ask first, tho, before applying. Every time you apply, it will be a credit inquiry hit. Lots of hits can reduce your overall score even more.

Smaller landlords tend not to run credit checks. Individuals generally only care that you have paid your rent on time in the past to other landlords. They don't necessarily care about your entire credit history. Maybe you can find a house or a one apt building owner to rent from??

[AMISLANDER]

this is tough

I found my beach house in the newspaper...my credit report, 2 years ago was nasty but the lady who watches the house knew my old boss and that except for my little escapade of craziness, I was a person who paid my bills...one of the reasons I don't want to move...too hard, especially, now, with bk...keep looking, ask friends, maybe through a church?