Need to rent! Advice needed

[tkharvey]

We are in the process of surrendering our home in our chapter 7. Up until 7 months ago, had perfect credit. Husband's salary reduced drastically as a result of this economy. We are both stable hardworking people. We keep our current home immaculate and looking like a model home. Please, can anyone give me advice as to how to get approved for a good rental, considering the financial shape I'm in along with horrible credit score. My husband and I printed out a copy of our credit report prior to January and we were 780, now we are in the low 500's. Any suggestions? What can I expect? How can we convince the owners to rent to us? Thanks alot!!!

[frogger]

There are rentals available everywhere. You shouldn't have to try too hard to convince someone to rent to you.

Two things that might help if they have concerns:

1. A higher security deposit.
2. Invite them to see your current residence.

That helps solve the major obstacles, that you won't pay, and that you wouldn't take care of the property.

Good luck.

[NoMoreCards]

I love the idea of inviting prospective landlords to your current residence. Considering you are giving up your home, and still taking care in it's appearance and cleanliness...says VOLUMES!!

Your best bet is to find a place you want to rent, and then talk to the landlord and explain the situation to them. I suspect you will find more understanding people than you realize.

I wish you the best. Keep in mind a credit score is just a number, and does not reflect upon the type of person you are.

[backtoschool]

There are plenty of rentals available in this economy. Go with an individual land lord not a realtor or a property management company. Individual landlords look at the whole person, not just a credit report, and many individual landlords don't even run your credit.

[needachance]

I have heard of owners that are not able to make the payments any longer or have to move and aren't able to sell quickly or at the price they want, that are willing to have someone just cover the mortgage, they will pay taxes and homeowners insurance and then can deduct the interest on their taxes. You would be responsible for minor repairs and if the appliances die then you have to replace them but then they belong to you. The benefit to the home owner is avoiding a short sale or foreclosure and they are gaining equity during a time when the market is down. I have heard of several people doing this...don't know if it is available where you are. We are needing to move as well from a small rental to a slightly larger one and we have a realtor friend of ours looking for something like this for us. We have rented from the same landlord for 14 years and had pretty much this agreement except for the appliances. You would want to check them over and make sure they are in good condition and make sure your lease covers everything that could happen. Then you have to treat it like your own home.

I HOPE we can get something like this for the next couple years while we save a good down payment and build our savings up.

[HakunaMatata]

We are in the process of surrendering our home in our chapter 7. Up until 7 months ago, had perfect credit. Husband's salary reduced drastically as a result of this economy. We are both stable hardworking people. We keep our current home immaculate and looking like a model home. Please, can anyone give me advice as to how to get approved for a good rental, considering the financial shape I'm in along with horrible credit score. My husband and I printed out a copy of our credit report prior to January and we were 780, now we are in the low 500's. Any suggestions? What can I expect? How can we convince the owners to rent to us? Thanks alot!!!

My sister fostered similar fears. Her husband (sole breadwinner) lost his job, they couldn't sell their house for remotely close to what they needed, they needed to move to put her husband in an area with better job prospects, and they ultimately filed BK. My sister found a house in an ideal location on craigslist. She met with the owner of the property and immediately developed a rapport (largely based on cleanliness/home maintenance "anal tendencies" ). Despite this, my sister feared she would be denied (not only was she concerned with credit score and job loss, she has two dogs and two cats -the landlord wasn't too keen on pets). The landlord (an attorney) was new to renting, had employed an fellow attorney to assist with rental agreements, and intended to run a credit report which terrified my sister. My sister felt morally compelled to "come clean". She met with the landlord, explained her situation in detail, offered to prepay six months in rent, AND signed a rental agreement! The landlord never ran a credit check. Trust (blind faith) and confidence exercised by both parties coupled with understanding the economic climate were major factors in securing this deal.

Securing a rental agreement may be based on numbers (if this is the case, I'd offer your previous high credit score to a potential landlord); although, other factors may contribute as well. I don't think a drop in credit score has nearly the same impact as it did years ago (I would hope landlords understand our current economic climate!). You have a stable income and I doubt you're seeking a property beyond your means. While you're concerned with your financial shape, you have a clean slate. You're confidence and passion in maintaining a property are commendable and I would hope this is regarded as desirable to a potential landlord. You're bringing plenty of positives to the table!

Best of luck to you!

[sigferl]

Thanks for your post tk. I agree with some other posts that you should probably rent for a person, like me, and not a company. I am a landlord of one double that I bought from family and my background check is very limited and I mostly rely on 'gut instinstics'.

On the negative side, please never be late or try to skip paying your rent, even after job loss, divorce, etc. because small landlords like us are not able to cope financially when rent is not paid. My rent barely covers the mortgage.

So please chose a rental that is well within your price range.

Vote Libertarian.

We are in the process of surrendering our home in our chapter 7. Up until 7 months ago, had perfect credit. Husband's salary reduced drastically as a result of this economy. We are both stable hardworking people. We keep our current home immaculate and looking like a model home. Please, can anyone give me advice as to how to get approved for a good rental, considering the financial shape I'm in along with horrible credit score. My husband and I printed out a copy of our credit report prior to January and we were 780, now we are in the low 500's. Any suggestions? What can I expect? How can we convince the owners to rent to us? Thanks alot!!!