Renting an Apartment

[cloudship]

I am looking at declaring bankruptcy soon, in part due to the fact that I lost my job and only recently got a new one at little more than half of what I was making before.

I am thinking that relocating across country would help my job chances. However, I am worried about what the credit issue will do to my ability to rent an apartment. Due to the fact that I have only rented from relatives/sublet etc., I have no legitimate rental history to present. Plus, I would have the issue of a bankruptcy. Since I would be moving, I would not want to buy a house right away, but I also know that my current living situation (with family) won't be able to last forever.

How can you rent an apartment with a bankruptcy?

[HRx]

I am looking at declaring bankruptcy soon, in part due to the fact that I lost my job and only recently got a new one at little more than half of what I was making before.

I am thinking that relocating across country would help my job chances. However, I am worried about what the credit issue will do to my ability to rent an apartment. Due to the fact that I have only rented from relatives/sublet etc., I have no legitimate rental history to present. Plus, I would have the issue of a bankruptcy. Since I would be moving, I would not want to buy a house right away, but I also know that my current living situation (with family) won't be able to last forever.

How can you rent an apartment with a bankruptcy?

Some apartment communities will not rent to a person who's BK is less than three years old. But the apartment's that will rent to people that have filed for BK typically just require a larger deposit, within the likes of, first and last months rent, in addition to the standard lease fees.

Good Luck!

[MajorMike]

In our state, they all ask for first and last...regardless...ugggh.

[havetodecide]

I was afraid of that too, having a hard time finding a place to rent, but your best bet is rent from private owners, not a big apartment complex. I found many places that wanted to rent to me and my BK was not even closed yet at the time...The currrent place where i am at i mentioned to the landlord that if my BK was going to be an issue and he said it was not a big deal since his wife had filed too

[HeatherB]

I gave up my house in bk and decided to rent. I went to apartments.com and decided to drive to the area I wanted to live in and stopped by each apartment as I passed them. Most of them said "no, sorry" as soon as the word bankruptcy came out of my mouth. But the current place that I live said, "it depends". I was for sure I would get turned down because it actually was a nicer apartment community than some that said no. I was ecstatic when they said yes (it was at the top of my list of places I liked, but I just thought there would be no way)

I would highly suggest that you be up front. If possible, for larger complexes, call and ask their policy on bk in advance (save the driving time). Also, most rental communities will charge to run a credit check.... so best to not pay for that if the answer is already a "no bk".

Also, renting a house could be easier because the owner gets to know you "face to face" and it can be on a more personal level. They are more likely to judge you by character than simply a credit report.

[jdmc1973]

My cousin is an apartment manager and she said that around here (Dallas) that most apartments wouldn't rent to you if you're bk is still open, and then after that they would probably require a bigger deposit, but that'd be it. I guess it depends on what state you live in and what their criteria are for renting. They usually give you a long list of things that aren't desirable before you apply. And on a side note, my sister just rented a very nice apartment and she has a tax lien on her credit, which she told the apartment up front about and they said that was no problem. They did, however, say that unless her credit score was below 540, they wouldn't check her rental history....go figure.