Renting after a bankruptcy, is it going to be difficult?

[ccmisery]

I read some negatives about renting after a bankruptcy, that is some landlords and apartment complexes totally deny people who have a fresh bankruptcy on their credit report or one that is only 2 years or so past discharge.

Has anyone experienced this? I have great references from my prior landlords but worry about the day that comes when I may experience this and have a difficult time finding a place to live in a tight rental market.

[keepsmiling]

Nobody has reported NOT finding something post bk
Save up some cash to use for an extra incentive if necessary. Most have said they do better in privately owned places than big corporate rentals. Maybe you can offer to do yard work or other maintenance, whatever.... a little creative might go a long way. Good luck!

[wellnowwhat]

I haven't filed yet, but my wife and I were looking at some fairly nice, corporately-owned apartments last year, and when asked about their credit requirements their response was "If your credit is decent, we'll just ask for the standard deposit (around $500). If you have a bankruptcy or any negatives on your credit, we'll ask for first and last month's rent as a deposit." So they wouldn't have excluded us completely, just tightened up their deposit requirements a bit. We found this to be the case with most of the apartment complexes in our area.

[ccmisery]

I am in Florida and rent by owner is always first, last + security deposit, I had a 700 FICO and no previous BKs and in some instances I had to come up with $3,000 to 4,000 dollars on lease signing. The corporate complexes here tend to not require that, but it's possible with bad credit they would.

I am just concerned that if I have to pick up and move for a job or downsize due to a pay decrease, that finding a place in a tight market will be hard. Seems around here the rental market is insane.

[justbroke]

I obtained a lease from a strict "corporate" apartment management company for a 2-bedroom ($1,200/month) apartment. They told me no bankruptcies for 2 years, monthly income 4x the monthly rent, no collections, etc. They approved me with the minimum deposit ($250) and I was discharged for less than 4 weeks! My case was not even closed at the time.

If your score is good (solid and over 620), you may find renting easy after BK and discharge! I believe that your score will matter more than anything else!