Tips for the RENTER with Bad Credit

With the economy faltering the way it is and with FORECLOSURES and SHORT SALES still on the rise, many people will find themselves looking to RENT yet experiencing difficulty because of their newly acquired BAD CREDIT.

So, what will you do?

Where will you live?

How will you ever get a Landlord to take a chance on you?

Below are some tips that I have seen work for others ... perhaps one of the suggestions will work for you too?

1 - Offer to put "down" more than the asking Deposit. How about offering the Landlord 3 months, or 6 months rent money up front, so that he will know that he has the unit paid for, for those amounts of months.

2 - Offering letters of recommendation from other places / companies where you have been paying consistently on time. This way the Landlord may see that although your mortgage note was too high for you to afford, you still were faithful to pay other bills on time, each month.

3 - Why not offer the Landlord a letter of your history? A time-line of why and when things started going bad for you, and how and why you would be able to afford his rental.

4 - Or find a co-signer for your lease.

If you have been denied the ability to RENT due to Bad Credit, you will be eligible to receive a FREE COPY of your Credit Report from the reporting agencies -- TransUnion, Equifax and Experion. Actually, you are legally allowed to request one report from each agency each year, and by doing so you may be able to help yourself by cleaning up your credit reports if you see any issues that have been resolved and should therefore state such on the Credit Reports.

A private, small owner may be more compassionate about your situation as well, so don't over look the rentals advertised by front yard signs and in your local newspapers. Good luck to you! And if you would like a list of rentals, FREE, for the Santa Clarita Valley area, post a comment below or email me at: SantaClaritaRE@gmail.com

LeeAnn Bell, REALTOR(R)

DRE License #01260650