Do all apartments check credit history before renting? I have no bad marks on my credit anymore (due to the 7 year rule) but it is very limited since I am rebuilding. I did break a lease 4 years ago but they never sued me for the money, the only evidence that I even lived there is the address which appears only on my Experian report (not the other two.
RE: Apartments: Do they check People may disagree with me but I think this is one of those issues that really can depend on where you live. I say that because from reading the many posts on this board regarding different credit issues, I know that some of them are not true in my state and sometime things are very different in different cities within a state. I find where I live, the larger property management companies tend to to credit checks, but a individual owner usually doesn't. I would guess they would probably tell you upfront because usually when they do, they charge you a fee to do a credit check. You could always call any prospective apartment landlords first and just in a matter of fact way ask what the application process is. They don't have to know who you are! Good luck!
RE: Apartments: Do they check In dealing with property owners in the course of my profession, I've found many people haven't a clue how to properly background someone, much less verify any information on the rental application. You'll also find that many individual owners do not check credit history. Many are too cheap to use a property management company, and often that comes back to haunt them! If you go through a property management or apartment leasing office, you are almost assured they will check credit from one of the CRA's, not all three. No matter where you go, no one is going to do a full background check on you. They are not going to check every last address you lived at, but they will probably call your last landlord and maybe your present employer.
RE: Apartments: Do they check I live in the San Francisco Bay Area, and it is fairly common here for even the individual landlords to pay for a consolidated background check from 3rd-party companies. They will actually search for arrests, public filings, such as "pay rent or quit" (vacate), evictions, etc. That is, it is not limited to just a credit check. I agree that it is *very* probable that a professional management company will do this sort of check just about anywhere, but in areas where the housing market is tight, such as the bay area, even individuals are going that route.
