Renting During 13

[TPPRAP]

Once you establish a history of paying rent timely and taking good care of a property most landlords will feel good about renting to you. Since you are in your own home currently that will be a challenge. However, if you are able to save up a few months rent by not paying your mortgage, that could put a landlord at ease. If you pay 2 months up front for instance and sign a 2 year lease you could ask that one of the upfront months cover rent in year 2 if you pay timely. At that point the landlord will feel good as he/she has been getting paid on time. Best of luck!

[Guest123]

We went with a realtor and made sure the property was maintain with a property management. Was a very ease process.
We didn't have the required credit score but a generic letter helped.
We were upfront the the realtor and told us it was no problem at all and it wasn't.

[IamOld]

JUSTBROKE - can I ask you this - I'm about 2.5 months from filing, and I want to - will - keep the house (over $100K "underwater" so there is...NO equity) - but wife talks about letting the house go (even though rents around here are paying essentially the same/mo) - our credit is- to say the least - crappy - no BKPCY yet - do you all think there is ANY hope of renting a nice place - MUST stay in school district especailly if landlord sees mort on credit report (which is CURRENT!!!!)

Where I live there have been a LOT of people "letting go" of houses, but I think they managed to rent before their credit went to hell....

Also, JUSTBROKE, would you be able to let me know what national company rented to you??

[IamOld]

GUEST123 - was that BEFORE or AFTER you were discharged????

[Guest123]

GUEST123 - was that BEFORE or AFTER you were discharged????

This was before we filed. We are still waiting for the plan to be comfirmed.
We are also in a very good neighborhood with one of the best school districts in AZ. So we upgraded so to speak.
Moved closer to work, bigger house, better neighborhood/school, no HOA fees and free Cox internet.

We also thought as others have suggested that a large deposit would be needed to rent but that was not the case at all, our realtor told us there was a limit they could charge and it was way under 2 months rent. Ours was 1 months rent and a $300 cleaning deposit.

[IamOld]

This was before we filed. We are still waiting for the plan to be comfirmed.
We are also in a very good neighborhood with one of the best school districts in AZ. So we upgraded so to speak.
Moved closer to work, bigger house, better neighborhood/school, no HOA fees and free Cox internet.

We also thought as others have suggested that a large deposit would be needed to rent but that was not the case at all, our realtor told us there was a limit they could charge and it was way under 2 months rent. Ours was 1 months rent and a $300 cleaning deposit.

THANKS!!!!!! May I ask how you approached the realtor? And was your credit bad when you rented???

[Guest123]

THANKS!!!!!! May I ask how you approached the realtor? And was your credit bad when you rented???

We found her online when looking at that area. Emailed her letting her know our situation and set up an appointment to look at some houses.
Yeah our scores were low 500's which is why we need the generic letter explaining the reason for the bad score and our plans to file chapter 13.

We had even talked to a few other realtors when we were thinking about staying in our old neighborhood and was told it will not be a problem renting.

[IamOld]

THANKS!!!!!! What did you write in the letter? The specifics about your case?

Did you have a mort payment at the time? Did you say to them that you will be filing???

OR -- would you suggest just say I'm shortselling (which is happening a lot around where I live???)

[Guest123]

THANKS!!!!!! What did you write in the letter? The specifics about your case?

Did you have a mort payment at the time? Did you say to them that you will be filing???

OR -- would you suggest just say I'm shortselling (which is happening a lot around where I live???)

It was a letter letting them know why our credit scores were low. We did let them know in the letter we were filing.
We stoppped paying the mortgage a few months before to save for moving fees and the lawyer fees.
I would suggest looking around the area you want to move into and contact a few realtors and explain your situation and go from there.

[justbroke]

I'm about 2.5 months from filing, and I want to - will - keep the house (over $100K "underwater" so there is...NO equity) - but wife talks about letting the house go (even though rents around here are paying essentially the same/mo) - our credit is- to say the least - crappy - no BKPCY yet - do you all think there is ANY hope of renting a nice place - MUST stay in school district especailly if landlord sees mort on credit report (which is CURRENT!!!!)

There are times when it is actually "financially" okay to stay in an underwater house. That's when the local rents are equivalent to the total cost of ownership of the home. That means you need to factor more than just the mortgage payment versus rent, but you have to look at cost of upkeep, insurance and taxes as well. If those numbers are equivalent and you did not reaffirm the debt... I can live with that.

Also, JUSTBROKE, would you be able to let me know what national company rented to you??

Will send in a PM.

[jetsfan2010]

I surrendered my house as part of my 13, and was approved through both an apartment complex and a property management company. Both pulled credit and both requested 1 month rent as security deposit.

[espo1357]

There are times when it is actually "financially" okay to stay in an underwater house. That's when the local rents are equivalent to the total cost of ownership of the home. That means you need to factor more than just the mortgage payment versus rent, but you have to look at cost of upkeep, insurance and taxes as well. If those numbers are equivalent and you did not reaffirm the debt... I can live with that.

Will send in a PM.

Ya, but long term, isn't it better to just dump it? I am in the 13 and everything fits your criteria of renting versus keeping an underwater property (about the same cost), but now I am thinking of letting the underwater mess (it gets worse and worse, well over 140k now) go and just start over.

In other words, since I am in an active 13, isn't better to dump now, rather than wait til later?

I am likely to dump, but its good to hear arguments both ways. I love my home, but I hate to be a slave to a banking system that is full of shit.

Am I making any sense?

[justbroke]

In the end, yes... I say to just get the "liability" of having an underwater house, out of the way. Unexpected maintenance costs are one of those things that make owning the underwater home less attractive to me. Less than 12 months into my Chapter 13, I had to have my concrete driveway dug up to replace the septic line. It wasn't in the budget, but not without some expectation (that I'd need maintenance). You just don't have that when renting.

So, in the end, it is always better to just walk if you're really upside down.