Can anyone please help me out? I have bad credit. Depts from 5 years ago. I am slowly paying them off. BUT because they look so bad, each and every place I have been to to try and rent a place, once they check my credit, they turn me down!

How can I get around this? How can I find places to rent where they do not check credit? Someday, probably 5 years from now, I will have my bills paid off, but not now.

Answer:

First, the fact that the debts are all from 5 years ago and there's nothing current that's bad, is something you should point out to the landlord. It'd help if you had no chargeoffs since then and at least a couple of R1's...

You're low on cash, but if I were in your position, I'd try to scrounge up double the deposit they're asking for. Then, I'd bring up the credit issue before they did, acknowledge that you got out of control some years ago but have been clean since. I'd address their concerns by saying I understand completely how without knowing me, the bad credit might give them pause. To prove how responsible I am, I'd offer double the deposit/additional month's rent security, with an agreement that once they saw I paid on the 1st of every month, that they'd refund the extra deposit within a year.

The landlord's concern is simple: that the property be taken care of, and that s/he get the rent and on time. If you can alleviate the financial concerns by taking the initiative to address them and offer a solution, you might have some luck.

I'm a landlord, and that's the only thing I can think of that might work for me -- if my other impressions of you were that you'd be a good tenant.

Also, I don't know where you live or what kind of properties you're looking at, but doubt the above approach would work with larger apartment complexes where the process is more objective and less personalized. A landlord who owns just one or two properties would be more amenable, I'm sure.

Oh...and I'd point out (hopefully this is true) that your debts were consumer debts and that you never flaked on your rent, i.e. that there are no judgements against you. Often, people with poor credit but who are still basically responsible otherwise, will always pay their rent first and let the other expenses slide. If that's your case, then I'd stress it, saying even years ago when you lost control, you still never defaulted on your rent.

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