I have a question about renting an apartment with credit issues. Here is the situation: My girlfiend and I are looking to rent from an apartment complex in July. Her credit is fine but we are not sure if she would qualify for the place on her own because of her income (we have no question she can afford it, but I have worked in mortgages, I know that what we know we can afford and what they think we can afford is often very different. Adding my income would more than qualify the two of us, but I have had serious credit problems and am just now starting to develop a plan to repair. I have no current positive credit, about 8 student loans in default, 2 small collection accounts and an old charged off visa that is paid. I know nothing about the apartment approval process and everytime I try to ask someone who is showing me the places they seem to know less than I do. All they say is "we'll pull your credit and then check your employment". When I ask what they look for on the credit they have no idea. What I need to know is does anyone know if the two of us would be able to apply together for the place given that she has good credit. Or will my credit destroy the whole application. If it will, does anyone have any advice on how I should proceed? Thanks.
I was in the exact same boat. I talked to the manager, told him that i offer a full months rent as deposit. result: Manager approved. Nice apartments, you're gonna have trouble, some apt management groups require good credit period. Middle of the run or "locally managed" apartments = try this method. Ghetto apartments, they only look for collections from other apartment complexes. Talk to the manager, they want you to rent, like a car salesmen, they will finance you Don't put down a application unless you talk to the manager first, if they have a STRICT policy, then you are getting your hopes up and throwing money down the tube.
I was in a similar situation as you when I applied for my apartment - no positives and lots of old negative info on my credit file. I applied with a roommate - she has excellent credit and we both make a lot of $. We were approved with no question. This is a luxury apartment complex and I didn't think I'd have a chance in hell. Anyway, if your gf has good credit I'm sure you'll get approved. At the very least they may tell you that only her name can be on the lease, or may just ask for extra deposit. As far as the amount of salary needed, they usually require that the monthly salary is 3-4 times the rent, depending on the complex. I don't think you should worry. Just fill out the application - it's rare they would turn you down without trying to make it work. Remember, they want to rent that apartment to you since it costs more to let it be vacant.
