How hard is it to get a rental home after bankruptcy?

[momof2inNE]

Hello everyone. I am new here. WHAA!

Anyway....it is really nice to have found this place and to see that we are not alone in this...even though it royally stinks.

We filed bankrupcty (Chapter 7) and were discharged last month. We kept our house....but now are coming to the sad realization that we may not be able to afford to stay here....

We are weighing our options and will probably try to sell it...but we owe exactly what it is worth pretty much due to the current market and may not be able to sell. Does that mean we may foreclose? MAYBE.

Anyway....if we do walk away....whether we sell or foreclose, we will need to rent a house. We have 2 kids....

Tell me....how hard is it to get a decent rental in a decent neighborhood when you have filed bankruptcy? We have always had pretty good credit so this is new territory for me.

Any advice appreciated....

Thank you!

[MNCarol]

I hate to be the bearer of bad news -- but it's VERY difficult to rent anything with a recent bankruptcy and/or foreclosure. I suppose it depends on your situation, but we're at wits end and may end up homeless (seriously).

Is there any way you can keep your home for awhile -- until you've rebuilt your credit a bit? Perhaps rent a room to a college student or something? Even if you have to fix up a space in the basement as your bedroom and rent the main bedroom out to someone?

If you can figure out something just to stay in it long enough -- 12-18 months... but you have to be able to make your payments on time. If there was a way I could stay in our home, I would do it. I'd sell furniture -- do other peoples' laundry -- pet-sit for people... Night-time childcare... anything. Our mortgage lender hasn't given us the option. Once the foreclosure process started, they wouldn't talk to us or our attorney.

So if you can't stay in your home -- before you do anything -- start looking for a rental -- see if you can find things in your area. Ours is a closed market. Everyone wants a credit application and credit check.

Our next address may be our old Jeep (it's paid for)...

[Horse of Course]

Ok, this scares me to death.
We plan on filing right before our foreclosure. Since we've only missed two mortgage payments foreclosure may be a while. After we file we will probably have about another 2 months to stay in our house, so we are looking to rent a house in about 6 months from now. I asked our attorney if we should try and get a rental home now while our credit is somewhat OK (640 Fico), but he said we should be fine renting a home after our bankruptcy. He said our only problem would come from renting from a large apartment complex, but if we are looking to rent a single-family-home we should be OK.
Please help.

[erinb1975]

It's hit or miss where I live. Search my other posts for my story, but long story short, we are surrendering our house in our 13 d/t large amt neg equity and declining neighborhood. We found a rental condo on Craigslist. It was in a great area, with great space. We called and were very honest about our situation. The company did do a credit check, but we were still approved even with our recent 13 filing.

It's not all doom and gloom everywhere, you just have to be persistant and honest and you'll find the right place. You may be looking at a higher deposit or co-signer, so you should prepare for that. We did not need either. We lucked out in that respect.

Large apartment complexes which are managed by large companies seem to be the least forgiving. Private renters seem to be the most forgiving - at least in our situation.

The good news is that it is taking a long time for banks to complete a foreclosure process, with so many cases going on. Estimates I've heard are anywhere from 6-12 months after your first missed payment. During that time you could remain in the house. I would start looking and you never know what you may come up with.

[Heartburn]

Maybe it won't be too hard. I had a friend that went through bankruptcy not long ago. They found a really cute rental (a house, not an apartment) . They were honest on the application about the recent bankruptcy. They offered a bigger deposit and had saved quite a bit in their bank account. They got the home.
You may also try offering several months rent in advance. Maybe that would help.

[BassBoy]

First off.....don't be scared. It's not as bad at it appears.

It is NOT impossible to rent after BK. I'll concede that some places have strict guidelines about renting after a BK, like being discharged for one year or two years, so don't believe that it's impossible. There are some apartment management companies that will rent to you without any extra money upfront and some others may require a little extra money upfront, like an additional month's rent.

Renting a home, condo or duplex from a private owner is somewhat easier. We did it. In fact, we had our lease signed before our discharge and moved out of our home the very next month. Our house sat empty for more than a year!

But anyways.........

You're best course of action is to call around to apartment complexes, condos, and private owners and inform them of your situation and ask what their criteria is for renting to someone with a BK. Be upfront about it and be honest. I think you'll be pleasantly surprised with what you find out.

[Cali]

Don't give up hope. Check the local paper for rentals, free papers for rentals and even some rental management companies. I am sure someone will be able to help you.

For us, we rented from private owner and they did require a credit check.

[catdance23]

It might be a little harder than someone without a BK on their records but it is doable. Be up front about your situation. Honesty goes a long way in this situation. We were just approved about a week ago for a house in our area. We are going to sign the lease this week and move in 9/1 just a week after our 341 meeting.

Don't offer right away the extra money (ours didn't ask for it) but if they come back and won't rent you could offer up that. Also, if you have someone that would be willing you can offer up a co-signer with better credit. My Dad was prepared to do that if we needed it (luckily we didn't).

How hard it is will depend on the area you are living. Where I am there are so many people trying to avoid foreclosure that there are rental homes all over the place. You just have to be careful that they aren't in danger of foreclosing either. Good Luck!!!

[jktrading]

Yikes, we might be in the same situation of looking for a rental within months of BK. We MAY be able to stay where we're at if I can find some night time work on the weekdays and day/night on weekends. My brother in law's attorney mentioned to him that after 6 months on a BK is when people start considering you again for credit.

[Cali]

I agree your location is important. I know the city I live in everyone does a credit check and many if not all won't rent to BKers.

[BankruptPinoy]

Could not this same method work in your case? Just put an ad on craigslist and like this individual did. Or what about the caretaker idea?

http://www.caretaker.org/

http://www.caretaker.org/main.php?smPID=DBS::SAMPLES

My most successful "trick" has been to say that I am Canadian, and thusly do not have a SSN. What matters most is how you carry yourself, dress, speak, confidence. Avoid apartment complexes as most are run by agencies who are basically robots. Check Craigslist for homes or duplexes being rented by the property owner. You are right that its not easy, but I assure you having done so three times in three different states over the past 2 years, it IS possible.

Thought I'd share on how we found a rental sans credit/background checks. After looking at a TON of places, I put an ad on craigslist requesting a home with a short term lease. I also said we desired to rent directly from an owner and wished to avoid "silly" background checks. I also mentioned our impeccable credit and well-behaved children.

I had a few nibbles. One young woman responded though with a perfect situation for our family. I asked her why my ad didn't scare her off and she responded, "Your ad was very well written and drew me in."

We met and after visiting for a while, we all agreed we were answers to each others' prayers.

In reflection of our rental search, I am dumbfounded at the amount of property managers that place their trust in a background check without using any horse sense. Unthinking robots....
Answer: Yours is the best solution to renting that has ever been submitted to this forum.

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[BankruptPinoy]

I suppose it depends on your situation, but we're at wits end and may end up homeless (seriously).

Our next address may be our old Jeep (it's paid for)...

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FINDING THE NECESSITIES
SHELTER

A lot of different ways to go about this;

1... The Homeless Shelters - Excellent way to contract lice and have whatever possessions you may have left stolen as you sleep. Also one of the first places some LEO’s will look if you are on the lam and they suspect you (or the perp they are looking for) are homeless or posing as one.

2... Woodlots - Many sizable towns and cities have woodlots (of various sizes) where you might be able to find or erect shelters out of the view of normal pedestrians and whatnot. A thorough examination of the area will tell you if it is frequently used by surrounding residents. Inspect for trails, large amounts of trash at "party sites", etc., and if you still want to use the woodlot for bivouac purposes, make sure to set up camp as far from those places as possible. Construct a debris shelter because they are much harder to spot for what they are and disturb your camp area as little as possible. Fires for cooking and heat should be used during the day and made as small and as smokeless as possible.

3... Abandoned Homes - Every town and city I’ve been in has their share of abandoned and condemned homes. Inspect them during the day for visibility from neighbors and use from kids and the drug element. Other homeless folks can be just as vicious and territorial as the druggies so watch your step. If you choose to shack up with other homeless wonders, expect to be picked up every once in a while or tossed out in the street as some towns will periodically have a "shakedown" to rid themselves of our "godless and verministic" presence. For awhile I was lucky in that I found an abandoned home that was out of sight in the back of a large woodlot bordering on a farmer’s field. It was never visited, still had some of its plumbing intact, and had a workable jet pump (well water!) that was quickly converted to manual use. It also had a septic system (that was in bad shape) still connected to the toilet (bucket flush). To avoid being seen at night, seal off rooms windows so that you might use a light of some sort. If your light is from fire, take the necessary precautions and make sure the room has ventilation. Go outside and walk around the house to make sure there is no visible light escaping, and cover up where it does…

4... Sewers, Storm Drains, etc- NOT! Trust me on this one, I’ve been in them… They come in all shapes and sizes, and while going from point A to point B may be okay you don’t want to live in the freakin’ things. Your sense of smell will be shot in short order and if you’re in them during a large rainstorm you’re gonna swear you are being flushed down a toilet. Let's not forget the opportunities contract all sorts of wonderful diseases/maladies as well as have your cuts &scrapes horribly infected. Rabies anyone? Excellent way to get yourself killed and when you come out everyone in a five-block radius is going to notice you (slight exaggeration but you know what I mean). Hard to remain unobtrusive if everyone thinks you’re a CHUD.

5... Junkyards and Industrial Parks - You can find access to cubbyholes all over most industrial parks, just make sure that a place you choose isn't patrolled by security guards at night. I accessed a couple boiler room areas on nights that got really cold, just don't sleep in the open in case late night janitors are around. Abandoned sites work well too. Some careful observation of the area will let you know if others are using it too.

I've never seen a junkyard or dump sight that was organized but all of them that I'd been in (that didn't have owner dogs) had hundreds of places you could curl up in for the night.

6... Alleys, Park Benches, etc. - Very risky. Police harassment aside, can you say rolled, beaten, generally abused, and pissed on, etc ad nauseum? As survivalists I KNOW we can do better than that…

Man, there're just so many places you can use - it's the precautions you take or don't take that'll burn you. Don't go into or out of your sleep hole openly like you're going in & out of your house. Try to let as few people as possible observe you anywhere near your spot. Come and go at night and the early morning hours.

All in all, expect to move around a lot… If you can find a spot and say "looks good", chances are, and someone else can too. Keep an eye on an area you like and soon enough you'll find out all sorts of useful things- other bums using it, gangs that party around it, etc.