Renting after BK with previous debt to apartments

[Spaghetti42]

Mods, please advise if this is in the correct forum…

My BK is scheduled to be discharged in April. I am currently living in a house with my boyfriend and his mother and brother; I pay rent to his mom. We do eventually want to get a place of our own together (we are thinking next summer 2015). I have balances owed to 2 previous apartments (move out and broken lease fees, etc) that are included in the BK. I know those debts will be discharged, but will they hurt my future chances of getting a rental? Will it help at all to pay those off or should I just work on putting that money towards a deposit/savings?

Any advice is appreciated, thank you!

[justbroke]

An eviction is the #1 reason why you would not be able to qualify for what I'd call a "traditional" lease through a management company. As a former landlord, my screening services, SafeRent, instructs us to never rent to anyone with an eviction (period). If you were not evicted, then you may be able to lease through property management companies in the future. There is no way to tell because I can't tell you what's in your rental history records. (There is a shadow "credit reporting" repository that tracks rental history. The major source is run by Equifax and providers, such as SafeRent, provide access to that data for landlords to make informed decisions.)

You can always go through private landlords that will typically be more relaxed and even accept a suitable reason for your past rental problems. I know that many "national" management companies will not rent to anyone within 1 year of filing bankruptcy, so that could become an issue.

It will not help to pay those off. It is a waste of money if the debt is discharged. The problem is the fact that you have a judgment or owe a prior leasing company for a broken lease. Only time can really cure that issue.

To me, it reads as if they were not evictions, but merely that you broke the lease by moving out early. With some time, that may lessen any issues in the future, but you will still need to have strong credit.

[Spaghetti42]

Yes, you are correct in that they were broken leases where I moved out before the lease was up. It will be more than 1 year after filing when we even start to look (We are not nearly ready for that step yet). After my first BK in 2005, I did get an apartment in 2006 once I showed proof of discharge. But I hadn't had any previous rental history at that time.

So what I'm getting is that I should work on my credit and put money towards a deposit rather than worrying about those past balances? :-) If wee could find a private owner that would be great. But most of those in this area are renting houses and DBF says that is a total waste (I am not 100% sure I agree with him on that but oh well)

[justbroke]

Yes, work on your credit by paying bills on time and not charging credit cards over 10-30%. Re-establish credit after your discharge by obtaining a few (2-3) revolving credit cards to have some credit history available for the scoring system. You should have a savings for the deposit, moving costs, and a general rainy day fund. In most cities and States, there are rules on how much "deposit" a landlord can charge a tenant.

Beware of any landlord that asks for more than 2 month's deposit or flouts their "bad credit / no credit" leases. Typically, you're paying a premium for those services and in some cases they are untrustworthy.

[Spaghetti42]

Also, do places like this "SafeRent" allow people to look at their own rental history? Same way you can look at your own credit report and dispute things if needed.

[justbroke]

Also, do places like this "SafeRent" allow people to look at their own rental history? Same way you can look at your own credit report and dispute things if needed.

There was a time when either Equifax or LexisNexis allowed individuals to review their rental, automotive and insurance scores. I am not sure that they are available to an individual. If you search Google for SafeRent, they do list a "consumer" contact phone number. Maybe you could inquire by calling them.

http://www.corelogic.com/solutions/s...ssistance.aspx

You may obtain a copy of your CoreLogic SafeRent consumer file in one of two ways:

1) Call our toll-free number 1-888-333-2413.
OR
2) Go to the following web site: www.corelogic.com/saferent

[Spaghetti42]

Good to know, thanks!