Applying for home rental post-discharge

[Zombie13]

We are going on a house hunting trip next week, and I have the job offer letter available. But, I won't be starting the new job til after we return from the house hunting trip. We are relocating near Seattle WA, so the cost of living is higher, but so is the new salary (significantly higher). I believe the salary increase basically is a match, if not somewhat higher, for the current salary in CO. Would the offer letter be sufficient to demonstrate we can/will have the income to pay the rent? Or do we need a paystub from the company (that will come a few weeks later). I will be taking my latest paystub from the current company (which shows a lower salary of course). Thanks!

[shipo]

It often depends upon the leasing agent/property owner. I would make sure you have both on hand when you go house hunting.

[justbroke]

I have had zero (0) issues applying for and being approved for apartments (and even single family homes) while in an active Chapter 13. I was even approved with reduced deposit.

Your credit score will be the largest factor. Long stable employment which is at least 3X the rent is also a major factor.

Some companies don't care and are okay just looking at your previous employment paystub (no more than 30 days old). Some will take a letter and also look as past employment paystub(s) as well as W-2(s).

[Carmella]

Make sure you have info on both jobs. I think if you are upfront and you are relocating and can show proof of income it should be ok. Just don't get caught with them checking and then they get an answer that you don't have that job!

I don't really have any experience renting except when my daughter moved and they did call the work place to verify she did indeed work there!

My friend sold her house to a lady who had just changed jobs. Her loan was approved on her previous job and then she almost lost her loan because she no longer was with the same job then they had to approve her for another loan.

[5yrplan]

I showed assets in lieu of income. My cash in bank and IRA balance. In also will pay 6 months rent in advance. We don’t have jobs but will get them after our move from our sold house in Iowa to Arkansas.

[Zombie13]

Criteria on some rentals in WA do state we need to show assets, in addition to offer letter, and/or pay stubs, etc. So yeah, we're *armed* so to speak.

[5yrplan]

I had trouble proving I’d pay the rent without a job in my new location. I ended up showing them my IRA account balance, paying a large deposit and 6 months rent up front but I got it done. Good luck

[Zombie13]

Thanks! We're on it. Homes fly off the market very fast.

[Zombie13]

Ok so we have secured a rental! Commute isn't too bad.
This is with a rental property management group, and they offer a service for payment, in which we can rebuild credit by paying the rent: the payments get reported to all three credit bureaus. We will investigate and implement.
Phew. Almost done with all this <grawlix>.
Last piece is, once again, one. more. time... showing the company my ITAR ID document today. They somehow failed to understand that an original version of the Certified Transcript of Birth is an acceptable form of ID. This is HR 101. And, it is listed in the document they provided me, which contains the list of forms of identification. How in the name of, could they possibly NOT understand this, is beyond me. Yesterday I seriously considered the possibility this was not gonna fly, so I contacted my current manager to ask about extending employment, just in case. I really did not like doing that but, that was the position I was in.

[shipo]

Last year when I changed jobs they asked for my proofs and I sent a copy of my recently expired Passport (getting a Passport renewed in the "time of COVID" was a challenge). Nope! They needed my Birth Certificate. That was fun, my Birth Certificate was in our storage locker, a locker which is a drive-through unit which is 15' wide, 30' deep, and 12' high; yeah, it took literally hours of rooting through boxes to find my wallet from the late 1970s which contained the certificate.

[justbroke]

The hoops they make you jump through. I don't know when it switched to "all documents must be unexpired". I thought that for list B, you could have an expired document so long as it wasn't more than X years. Maybe they found people using old discarded identification to prove eligibility for employment.

I will tell you that they are specific. I was able to use my unexpired passport.

Zombie13, it appears that it must specifically be "Certification of report of birth issued by the U.S. Department of State"... probably emphasis on "issued by" the US State Department.

Or, they are literally looking at the pictures on the USCIS page and saying "nope, it doesn't look like that and the wording is different." (They are taking the literal explanation in the guidebook.)

https://www.uscis.gov/i-9-central/form-i-9-resources/handbook-for-employers-m-274/120-acceptable-documents-for-verifying-employment-authorization-and-identity/123-list-c-documents-that-establish-employment-authorization

[Zombie13]

Yes they are.
On the list they sent me, there is a tab for Birth Certificates. Under that bullet point, is a sublist of items. One is: Issued by a Governmental Authority within the U.S. Geographical Area. Not sure if that matters. I did the video screening, showed my driver license and the certified transcript of birth. And we are now clear, so I will begin work Monday.
I did order a birth certificate but sounds like it will take 90 days (September) for delivery via UPS. WTH. I just need to be sure to update the delivery address.

[Zombie13]

shipo yea that sounds like a really fun time! Not. LOL. We've done that kinda thing before. Dig through everything, to find one thing.

[Carmella]

Yes they are.
On the list they sent me, there is a tab for Birth Certificates. Under that bullet point, is a sublist of items. One is: Issued by a Governmental Authority within the U.S. Geographical Area. Not sure if that matters. I did the video screening, showed my driver license and the certified transcript of birth. And we are now clear, so I will begin work Monday.
I did order a birth certificate but sounds like it will take 90 days (September) for delivery via UPS. WTH. I just need to be sure to update the delivery address.

Does this mean you will be in your new rental and working in the Seattle area on Monday???? WOW when it happens it happens!! CONGRATS. Was the Colorado house sold, hope that house is history!!

[Zombie13]

Carmella not that quickly lol! I will be working remote until May 23.