Is It Worth Sacrificing Your Security Deposit to Leave a Rental Early?

Sometimes life hands you a lemon, and you want to make lemonade. However, in the process of making this delicious and refreshing drink, you might just squeeze a bit of lemon juice into your eye. In the home rental industry, the life’s lemon can be related to a job transfer, a new relationship, a pregnancy or even a child heading off to school for the first time. Lemonade refers to the opportunity to move to a new home, so you can make the best out of the life change. And the stinging lemon juice in the eye is you sacrificing your security deposit on your apartment so you can leave the lease agreement early.

Is it worth sacrificing your security deposit? It depends on your history. Specifically, your rental history report. If you were to look at your history report, does it show that you’ve paid your rent on time consistently? Does it show your credit history is strong? That you have a clean criminal background? If you’ve answered yes to all these questions, you might not be affected by a negative mark for breaking a lease early. However, if you were to apply for a rental unit in the future, the landlord reviewing applications might reject yours if he sees a report that you did break your lease early. Then you’d be out more than just a security deposit. You might be struggling to find a quality apartment to rent as well.

When planning on renting for many years to come, it’s in your best interest to keep your rental history report as clean of negative reports and errors as you can. Be sure to review your report on a regular basis, and if errors do show up, take action immediately to get those resolved.

 

 

Will My Friends’ Credit Records Affect My Rental History with a Co-Lease?

Can my friends’ credit records affect my own rental history if we’re co-leasing?

Signing up for an apartment with several friends is always an exciting time. Because you’re already close friends, you know you’ll be able to hang out together both in the apartment and out in the community with little conflict. Plus you’ll enjoy being in a situation where you trust your roommate(s) and know exactly what personality and behaviors to expect from everyone living in the apartment.

However, first you must apply for the apartment. Often friends will co-lease an apartment together, which might cause some issues if one of the roommates doesn’t have a good rental history or credit history. This should only be a problem in being approved to rent the apartment. Once you’re living there, as long as you and your roommates pay your rent on time and follow all the requirements stated in the lease agreement, a roommate’s bad credit record should not affect you or your personal rental history report.

But once you’ve moved in, if as a unit you slip and miss rental payments or break another lease rule, the penalties can affect all renters who co-signed the lease. This is because your landlord can place notifications of the missed or incomplete payment in everyone’s rental history reports, even if as a group, you had assigned only one person to handle the lease payment. The landlord won’t keep tabs on which renter in the apartment is responsible for paying the rent. Legally, he can come after each and every person who co-signed the lease, and hold them responsible.

To help keep your rental history report free from negative reports made by landlords, if you’re co-signing with friends, it might be smart to handle all the rental payments yourself, so you can ensure that it gets paid on time and in full.

Myth or Fact? My Credit Report Will Keep Me From Ever Renting

A low credit score and negative information on your credit report can hurt you when trying to apply for a loan, a job or even to rent an apartment or home. Lenders, employers and landlords look at credit reports to determine if applicants have good money management skills, and will be able to pay off a loan or make monthly rental payments.

However, if your credit report information doesn’t provide a glowing report, it isn’t the end of the world. You will still be able to find landlords who will rent to you, but you might not be able to find the quality of apartment or rental home you wish to rent. Here are some tips:

1. Try the independent homeowner renting out their property first. They may not conduct a background search and instead research applicants based on an interview process.

2. Come prepared to the interview with a homeowner or management company. Check your rental history report so you can see what information is included and bring the information to the table so you can show how you’re taking action to clean up your credit history report and how in recent history, you’ve paid off all your bills in a timely fashion. If you were a victim of fraud, explain this to the landlord, and bring documentation showing that you’re working to resolve the crime.

 3. Correct any errors that appear on your report. Incorrect information often is the result of human error – the mistyping of a Social Security number; a common name being misfiled or even an account number being added to the wrong identity. Once you have your report corrected, then apply for the apartment or home.

You can get a copy of your credit history report as part of your rental history report. In addition, the rental history report will also give you information on your criminal history, your eviction history and your rental payment history – all items landlords will be interested in researching before they set up a lease agreement with you.

 

 

Focus keyword: Check your rental history

How to Fight an Eviction You Think Is Wrong

If you receive a legal or official notice of eviction, make certain that the notice contains accurate information. It’s important to do some research to confirm that the notice is in accordance with the law in notifying you of your upcoming eviction. This is especially important because you’ll need to know how to fight an eviction you think is wrong.

The reason you want to check that your landlord filed the notice legally – and that the eviction is justified – is because this information appears on your rental history report. In fact, the notice of eviction is listed, as well as the date of eviction, if it follows through. If you do end up evicted and attempt to find a new apartment, you might discover landlords refusing to rent to you because they’ve looked up your rental history report and see that you have an eviction history.

How to know if an eviction is on your record:

Get a copy of your rental history report to check it over for eviction records, as well as other background information like your criminal history and your credit history. If you find any information that is inaccurate, take steps immediately to correct the errors.

Here’s how to fight an eviction you think is wrong:

Take legal action – contact an attorney who specializes in rental agreements. Share with the attorney all information and correspondence you’ve had with your landlord, including a copy of your lease agreement, the notice of eviction, and any supporting evidence you have against the notice of eviction. The attorney will handle notifying the landlord if he thinks your eviction notification is in error, and will also be responsible for filing the case in court if your landlord wants to continue forward with the eviction process.

My Rental History Will Stay with Me for Life: Myth or Fact?

People who plan to be life-long renters, or decide to return to the renting world in later life because they want an easier living arrangement, might be interested in knowing how long their rental history will be active. The question of if a rental history will stay with a person for life is both a myth and a fact. Here’s why:

 

Fact – Everyone who has rented in the United States should have a rental history report. This report includes credit information, a background check of eviction records and criminal history, and a rental payment history.

 

Myth – The information reported on your rental history report for today will not always be there. Many states have expirations on different records – like eviction records – and therefore after time, this information will drop off a report. In addition, renters with bad credit scores – who take action to improve those scores – will also see the information updated in a rental history report. Finally, a court order by a judge can also have information removed from a rental history report.

 

It’s always a good idea to check out your rental history report prior to applying to rent an apartment or home, just to make certain the information is accurate. If it isn’t, take action immediately to get the report corrected, providing you with a stronger application for that apartment.

Have a Common Name? Check Your Rental History Report for Mistakes

Bob Smith? Chris Jones? Mary Anderson? Common names allow people to blend into the anonymity of data reported on the Internet very easily. But having a common name could also easily lead to incorrect information reported on background checks. And sometimes incorrect information can turn into negative information.

Human error happens all the time, and when it comes to connecting a name – any name – with information like rental history, criminal history or even credit reporting, mistakes can happen. Especially if there are multiple people with the same name living in the same city or county.

If you are a Bob Smith and are interested in renting an apartment or private home, before you apply, be sure to review your rental history report to make certain the information being reported about you (and connected with your Social Security number) is correct. You’ll be able to see reports about your credit history, eviction notifications, sex offender listings, criminal records and even a history of your previous addresses – all information a landlord will evaluate to determine if you’re a good candidate to be a tenant. Be sure to correct any errors immediately.

And when you do apply, mention to the landlord that you have a common name, and request that they double check that the background check they conduct goes by your Social Security number, in addition to your name. This will help ensure they see the correct information about you.

What to Know About Renting in Colorado

Whether you’re moving to the Centennial State or changing locations within Colorado, it’s easy to find websites to help with your move.

However, one detail these sites don’t discuss is a reminder for Colorado renters to check their own rental history report prior to applying for rental housing. It’s recommended anyone who intends to rent do this first, to make certain the report contains accurate information and that the information presented is positive. Landlords will do their own background check on applicants, so you will want to make certain your information is presented in the best light possible. If you find errors on your report in your credit history or eviction record, take action immediately to correct those errors.

Once you’ve reviewed your rental history reports, you can use sites like ColoradoHousingSearch.com, which provides plenty of resources for homeowners and renters moving to a new home in the state of Colorado. For example, the renter checklist and moving costs calculator links on the site are very beneficial, as these resources provide information not always top-of-mind when it comes to moving into a new rental. The calculator reminds a renter to add up all the costs – from application fees to cleaning costs – and include the price for all service deposits that need to be made. And the checklist is something renters will want to use when comparing properties, so they can find the perfect future home.

Colorado attracts a lot of attention for prospective renters. This is in part due to the beautiful landscapes found throughout the state as well as a stronger economy. This means applicants will need to work harder to get the rental properties at the top of their list. Save yourself time and effort using the moving costs calculator and renter checklist to carefully narrow down your search of properties to ones you can afford and that meet all of your qualifications.

Ending a lease when repairs are not being made

Many families prefer to rent, rather than own, because as a renter, they are not financially responsible for maintenance of the property or replacement of appliances as they age. However, a renter is responsible if he or she causes physical damage to the property. But traditional maintenance issues – or repairs needed due to external factors like broken pipes, leaky roofs or even natural disasters – are the responsibility of the landlord.

As a renter, if you have a need for repair work to be done, you first need to inform the landlord. Each state has directions on tenant and landlord responsibilities. A written notice is highly recommended, and if you don’t receive a response within a reasonable timeframe, sending notification via certified mail is the next step.

If you continue to not receive a response, or the landlord denies your request for maintenance or repair, you do have a couple of options for ending your lease.

1. Contact your local housing authority or building inspectors. This inspection will determine if your property is a health hazard, which could result in the landlord being fined by the city, or the building being closed for code violations. This can terminate the constraints of your lease, allowing you to move out of the property without violating your lease agreement.
2. Stop paying rent. There’s a good chance a landlord will give you notice of eviction when you stop paying rent. However, your refusal to pay rent, and your eviction, will appear on your rental history report, which can make it harder for you to encourage future landlords to rent to you.
3. Make the repairs yourself and deduct the cost from rent. Called repair and deduct, there are many stipulations in each state on the legal process for this step. And in some states, it could result again in notice of eviction.
4. Getting the value of the property appraised, continue paying rent, and then suing the landlord for the difference. This will bring the case of your needed repairs in front of a judge, who may determine your lawsuit is justified. But there is also a chance the judge will side with your landlord. Either way, the case will show up on a background check.

It’s a good idea to thoroughly research your situation, and potentially discuss your plan of action with an attorney before taking any action that could put a black mark on your rental history, your credit history or a background check.

Also, it will be worth your time to make sure your rental history report is accurate, both before and after you try to fix the problem, and especially if you end up in a dispute with your landlord.

3 Ways to Ruin Your Rental History

You’ve heard about how not paying bills on time can ruin your credit history. A damaged credit history can hurt you when you want to borrow money for a house or car, or even if you apply for a job.

Rental history is just as important as credit history, and there are ways you can ruin your history, making it difficult to find a landlord willing to rent to you in the future.

Here are the top three ways to ruin your rental history report.

1. Breaking the rental lease – Jobs, family and even your health may require you to move out of your current apartment and break a lease. But this could hurt your history in the long run. The best advice is to communicate openly with your landlord about your situation, and work with your landlord to help get the apartment rented again. You may have to forfeit your security deposit, and make an offer to have your apartment cleaned for showings, giving the landlord a chance to rent it right away.
2. Delinquency on your payments – Not paying your rent on time can put a bad mark in both your rental history reports and your credit history reports. Before renting an apartment, make certain you can afford the rent, utility bills and other living costs. And if you have difficulty remembering to pay rent, ask your landlord if you can have it automatically withdrawn from a bank account, or ask your landlord to send you a bill each month.
3. Damaging and destroying property is one thing, failing to alert the landlord to the damage and arranging to pay for it is another. Even if you leave the apartment damaged, a landlord may refrain from reporting it on your rental history report if you agree to either fix the damage yourself or pay to have someone else do the job.

Consider checking your rental history report prior to looking for a new apartment. Make sure you have a good chance at renting a new apartment before leaving the old one.