Lease has been rejected while in Chapter 13

[niko]

I filed my Chapter 13 and i've been doing great! I filed in April 2010 and scheduled to finish April 2014.

I changed three different apartments in three different states since i filed! I found better paying jobs each time..

Now i found one job in Miami that pays really well, but the apartment i applied for rent denied me stating that my bankruptcy is active and they are afraid to rent me because i can add them in my plan.

It is not true right? Why my other landlords had no issue? Oh most heart breaking part is that they charged $200 application fee. 100 for me and 100 for my wife. I filed a BBB claim and also reported them to attorney general's office. I'm not sure anything will come out of it. I also tried to talk with the general manager of the apartment but no luck yet.

Any suggestions? Is it even legal to charge me so much application fee and deny me like that? There was nothing regarding bankruptcy on the application, i even asked about it verbally they said there shouldn't be any problem, but story changed when they see i didn't get fully discharged.

Please input your opinions.

THANKS!

[Nursemikki]

I don't have any advice, but I am looking to move soon and your stating that you've been able to rent prior to this with no problems helps with some of my anxiety.

[LadyInTheRed]

According to this: http://www.justanswer.com/bankruptcy...hapter-13.html, a default on a post-petition lease cannot be included in the plan and the unpaid rent cannot be discharged. You might try sending a copy to whoever is the actual decision maker.

The fact is that they don't have to rent to you if the BK scares them. You might try offerring a larger deposit and asking your former landlords to write letters confirming you paid your rent on time. Or find another apartment to rent.

I don't know for sure, but they probably can charge you the application fee and deny you. You could try to argue you were misled by being verbally told the BK wouldn't be an issue. But, I suspect that won't get you very far. You probably signed something acknowledging the fee is not refundable. Next time, before paying the fee, make sure the landlord understands you are in an active Chapter 13 bankruptcy.

[filingin08]

When we moved, we told apartment managers we were in an active 13 and they said they would not rent to us unless it was discharged. Same story, different verse at several locations. We found a private lender who never asked about our credit, just wanted to see our paystubs.

Saying all this, because possibly first place thought you were discharged and that's why it wasn't an issue. Also to let others know it's not necessarily a cake walk, but finding a new place to live mid-13 is possible.

[zeezee]

Same here, I work out of town during the week and was looking for a small apartment to rent and every place I told I was in an active 13 said they would only rent to me if I was discharged. I went on Craigslist and found a private renter who only needed to see my pay statement and I had to give a deposit. Find a private owner.

[niko]

Thanks everyone. I got my application fee back from the landlord :- ) I found another place to live with no problems.

[kjrmom911]

I am going through similar problems. My husband and I are separating halfway through our chapter 13. Every apartment manager was ok with the bankruptcy they just were concerned because it wasn't discharged. I finally found one who would help me. They ran my credit for free and it came back approved with conditions. All that meant was I had a little higher security deposit. It is hard, but honesty is best policy and by that I mean ask before you fork over any money for a credit check. There are some compassionate places out there. I move in next weekend.

[catleg]

It's because if you convert from chapter 13->chapter 7 then you can add debts incurred between the filing data and the conversion date to your case and get them discharged.

[kjrmom911]

catleg..I didn't think about that aspect. That does make sense.

[Slingerland]

I'm a landlord in Arkansas, and while I will happily work with people in a C-13 plan, I require a higher security deposit for exactly the reason catleg says. After a period of on-time rent payments, I will pro-rate the "excess" deposit back to the tenants.

[magic13]

Could that be because you are quite familiar with the Chapter 13 process evident because you have 133 posts. Most landlords and people in general know nothing about bankruptcy until they have to learn about it.

[Slingerland]

Could that be because you are quite familiar with the Chapter 13 process evident because you have 133 posts. Most landlords and people in general know nothing about bankruptcy until they have to learn about it.

You're 100% right. Up until the crap hit my personal fan, I didn't take tenants with bankruptcies. But my life went sideways into the sewer, and now with a pending divorce and C-13, I had to learn A LOT from the kind people who are frequent posters here. I used what they told me to work up policies that make business sense. And something that I learned... and in hindsight I want to slap myself... tenants who are in successful C-13 plans STAY LONGER, especially if I take good care of the house.

I'm part of our state landlord association, and I've been teaching my policies to other landlords, and it seems to go well for them, too.

[gems4me]

You're 100% right. Up until the crap hit my personal fan, I didn't take tenants with bankruptcies. But my life went sideways into the sewer, and now with a pending divorce and C-13, I had to learn A LOT from the kind people who are frequent posters here. I used what they told me to work up policies that make business sense. And something that I learned... and in hindsight I want to slap myself... tenants who are in successful C-13 plans STAY LONGER, especially if I take good care of the house.

I'm part of our state landlord association, and I've been teaching my policies to other landlords, and it seems to go well for them, too.

Bad stuff happens to good people. Thank you for helping the others in your industry see this.

[AngelinaCat]

You're 100% right. Up until the crap hit my personal fan, I didn't take tenants with bankruptcies. But my life went sideways into the sewer, and now with a pending divorce and C-13, I had to learn A LOT from the kind people who are frequent posters here. I used what they told me to work up policies that make business sense. And something that I learned... and in hindsight I want to slap myself... tenants who are in successful C-13 plans STAY LONGER, especially if I take good care of the house.

I'm part of our state landlord association, and I've been teaching my policies to other landlords, and it seems to go well for them, too.

Thank you also from me The more we can educate people, the better it is for all of us.

[Slingerland]

AC, let me say "THANK YOU!!!" to you, 'Hub, justbroke, LITR, Des and EVERYBODY else who says and helps!