Is a bad credit score going to keep me from renting?

There are some places in the United States where it’s tough to find a good apartment or rental home. There’s plenty of competition for those limited rental units, and when one does become available, you want to put your best foot forward in hopes that the landlord will select you as the tenant. A bad credit score will not help your cause.

One item landlords will review is your credit score, and if you have a bad credit score, this could hinder your chances. The reason is, your credit score shows how you’ve handled money historically. Since the landlord is in the business to make money, he is less likely to rent to a tenant who shows a history of late bill payments, or has a large amount of debt. The chances of you continuing this behavior are too great, and the landlord will very likely pass over your application for a tenant candidate who has a better bill-paying history.

However, if you are lucky enough to be applying for a rental in an area that doesn’t have a high number of competitors trying to get the same apartment, the landlord might be willing to rent to you. Consider asking the landlord to put you on a trial lease agreement of three months, so you can demonstrate you are good for the rental payments.

Also, if you have taken action to improve your credit, point this out to the landlord. It takes time to improve a bad credit score, but if you can show that you’ve paid all your bills on time and taken action to reduce your debt over the past few months, it could work in your favor.

How to Prevent an Eviction By Your Landlord

For some tenants, the threat of eviction is an everyday occurrence. And for others, it’s the last thought on their minds. How is this possible? It’s because the second party knows how to avoid potential eviction.

Here are some tips to ensure your landlord won’t evict you:

* Pay your rent on time. And make certain you pay the complete amount.

* Read your lease agreement. This agreement stipulates all the rules established by the landlord for living in the apartment or rental home. It will cover everything from pets to noise levels to appropriate parking spaces. Be sure to follow these rules.

* Atone for any damages. If you or a guest of yours causes damage to the apartment, contact your landlord immediately and discuss how you can get the repairs covered. The landlord may offer to do the work, and charge you the fee. Or the landlord may be OK with having you handle and pay for the repairs yourself.

Of course, when your lease agreement expires, your landlord may opt to not renew the agreement, and while it’s not an eviction, you will need to vacate the apartment or rental unit on the end date of the lease. Also, if something comes up on the landlord’s end like the property has been sold, the landlord or new owner can go through legal channels and provide you with a 30-day or 60-day termination of lease notice. This type of eviction should not be reflected on your rental history report, as it is caused by the landlord, not your actions or behaviors.

Your Rental History & the Consequences of Subleasing

Getting promoted or facing a change-in-life situation often signals a positive in life. However, when that change involves moving, and you have a lease agreement that doesn’t expire for some time, you have a hard decision to make. This decision can have an impact upon your rental history report.

Subleasing might be the only option to withdraw from a lease agreement without breaking the contract or going broke trying to pay rent for a rental you don’t live in any longer. However, subleasing can bring about its own concerns, mostly to your rental history report.

As the renter who signed the lease agreement with the landlord, the landlord will continue to hold you responsible for your end of the agreement, even if you are living in another state and have subleased the apartment out to a new tenant. That means if the rent is not paid on time or in full, the landlord can come after you for payment. Or if damage occurs to the apartment caused by the person subleasing – or even a guest of the person subleasing – the landlord can hold you responsible.

If the person subleasing your apartment isn’t following the contract laid out in the lease agreement you originally signed, the landlord can report late or incomplete rental payments on your rental history report. Or if damage is caused to the apartment and the repairs undergone by the landlord are not reimbursed in a timely manner, this too can appear on your rental history report.

The landlord can also take you to court for breach of contract, which could appear in your criminal history records, and therefore appear on your rental history report.

 

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.

Not Giving Proper Notice to Vacate Can Affect Your Rental History Report

Did you know that not giving your landlord proper notice to vacate can affect your rental history report?

You’ve been living in your apartment for some time now. It’s in a great location, your kids are able to attend excellent schools, you can get to work quickly and easily, and the apartment has really worked well for fitting into your lifestyle.

But a life change might require you to move your family to a new location, across town, in a neighboring community or even out of state. How you notify your landlord about your intent to leave your apartment could follow you for years, especially if you don’t give proper notice to vacate.

All tenants have rental history reports containing information about their payment history, as well as whether they left the rental unit in good standing. Lease agreements often have a specified end date, and then the renter is required to extend the lease agreement or move out of the apartment so the landlord can rent it to another tenant. However, if the tenant decides to terminate the rental agreement prior to the date specified in the lease agreement, this is considered a breach of contract. The tenant has a couple of options to give proper notice so negative information doesn’t appear on his rental history report:

1. As soon as the need to vacate the apartment becomes apparent, contact your landlord. Advise him of the reason behind the need to vacate, and ask if the lease agreement can be terminated early without penalty to you. Insure you have given him/her the proper notice to vacate.

2. Consider negotiating with the landlord. Offer to help re-rent your unit by paying for advertising, and having it clean and available for showings.

3. Ask if subletting the apartment through the end of the lease agreement is acceptable.

4. Move out of the apartment, but continue paying the rent until the lease has expired.

Don’t intentionally put any negative information on your rental history report if you can avoid it, because having a clean and glowing rental history report will make you look good to future landlords, who hopefully will want to rent their apartments to you.

Can I Rent with No Rental History?

When applicants apply to rent an apartment or home, the landlord often will conduct a rental history check to determine if the candidate has had any troubles with renting, or has had legal issues. However, some people, like young students and newcomers to the country, don’t have any history that can show up on a rental history report.

The good news is that people can still rent with no rental history – because it showcases that you haven’t been in trouble with the law, or have never been evicted from an apartment. However, you may not qualify for the top choice in rental locations, or may need to provide other types of references to encourage a landlord to establish a rental agreement. Some helpful tips:

* If in college, provide proof of enrollment – Landlords of apartments near universities are familiar with renting to students. Also consider providing a copy of your current transcript, highlighting that you are a good student, and a good rental candidate.

* Bring proof of employment – Ask your employer to provide you with proof of your income, showing the landlord you can afford monthly rent payments for the property.

* Provide a letter of recommendation – Newcomers to the country often are sponsored by an organization or other family members. Ask this organization to provide you with a letter of recommendation, showing a potential landlord you have connections in the community.

Once you are approved for a rental unit, know that you will start developing a rental history report. Be sure to pay your rent on time and in full, and follow all the rules established in the lease agreement so that your rental history report only has good information to report about you.

Are the Processing Fees Being Charged by a Landlord Fair or Not?

In addition to rent, landlords do have the ability to charge certain processing fees. But what is considered the standard for landlord fees?

Security deposit – Many landlords will charge for a security deposit. Sometimes it will be the total of one month’s rent, other times it will be a set dollar figure. This money is usually collected before the tenant moves in, and will be paid back to the tenant upon moving out if all facets of the lease agreement were met during the duration of the contract.

Pet deposit – Landlords often will charge a fee – or add additional fees to the monthly rental payment – if a pet is added to the apartment. This money is to cover any damage or cleaning fees the landlord may have upon the tenant’s vacancy of the apartment. The amount of this fee varies, and tenants will have to make their own determination of what they consider fair.

Cleaning fee – Many lease agreements will stipulate the tenant either pay a cleaning fee upon moving out of the apartment, or hire specialists to do the work upon vacating the apartment. Cleaning fees often include carpet cleaning and repainting of the walls.

Application/new tenant processing fee – Landlords often conduct a rental history report check for applicants, looking for any prior history that may make the tenant a bad fit for the apartment. The cost of these screenings can be passed on to the tenant when the lease agreement is signed.

One way to know if the fee is reasonable is to conduct your own rental history report check first. Not only will you be able to see all the information reported about you – and double check that the information is accurate – but you also will know if the landlord’s fee is reasonable.

Will an Eviction Record Result from Breaking My Lease?

Many temptations entice apartment tenants to break a lease agreement. Parking in the wrong spot – even though it’s closer to the door; bringing a cat or dog into the home when pets aren’t allowed; subletting if you’ve decided to move elsewhere; not paying rent – the list goes on and on of ways a tenant can break the terms of a lease.

It’s important for tenants to remember that a lease is a contract – a legal document that will be reviewed and analyzed if a landlord decides to evict the tenant, or take him to court for something like failure to pay rent. And since most landlords require tenants to sign a lease agreement, tenants should carefully review all the material included to ensure they agree with the rules stipulated.

A court case and eviction record are the highest consequences a landlord can impose on tenants who break or violate a lease agreement. A court case puts the disagreement between the landlord and tenant in front of a judge or jury. Even if the court sides with the tenant, the record of the court case will appear in the tenant’s rental history file, unless the judge decides to have the records removed.

Notice of eviction not only forces a tenant out of his apartment, it also appears on his rental history report. When the tenant attempts to find a new apartment, landlords will do a rental history check to see what his credit rating is and determine if previous landlords have had complaints or issues with the tenant. An eviction record might cause the potential landlord to look for other applicants that better match what the landlord is looking for in a tenant.

Have you broken a lease agreement, and need to see your rental history report? Get a copy today to check it over for accuracy, and to see what landlords are seeing when they pull your report.

Repairing a Rental Apartment in California

A large percentage of Californians live in rental units – 17 percent, in fact. Only Washington, D.C. and the state of New York have higher percentages of apartment-dwellers, according to the National Multi Housing Council.

Because of this, California has established a guide covering the rights and responsibilities of tenants and landlords. Much of the information is common knowledge, like lease agreements and rental applications, but this guide also delves into less-known topics like repair-and-deduct remedies when a tenant makes repairs to a unit.

When a state has a higher percentage of the population living in rental units, a good share of those residents tend to stay in their homes for quite some time. And as years pass, maintenance will be needed to keep the rental unit up to date. Some landlords and tenants can come to an agreement for the tenants to perform all repairs and maintenance on their home in exchange for reduced rent payments.

In the case where the landlord is responsible for repair and maintenance, according to the guide, tenants should notify the landlord in writing of the requested repairs. If the landlord declines to take any action, without good reason, the tenant has a couple of options:

1. Repair and deduct – Tenants can make repairs for serious substandard issues – like a leaky roof, no hot water or a gas leak – and deduct the cost of those repairs from rent as long as the cost is less than the monthly rental payment. There are a lot of legalities involved with this, and tenants are recommended to contact legal counsel first.

2. Abandon – A tenant also has the option of moving out if a repair situation is needed but not addressed. This often happens when the repair costs would be more than a month’s rent. Again, the repairs must be for substandard issues. Because this could also appear to be a breach of lease to a landlord, it might be a good idea to contact legal counsel first.

3. Rent withholding – Tenants have the right to not pay rent if repairs are not made, however there are many requirements that have to be fulfilled to make this option legal. Again, the needed repairs must be for a health or safety reason, and the result of this action could cause a landlord to sue for breach of lease, or give a tenant notice of eviction.

The California guide for landlord and tenant rights is frequently revised to include the latest legal changes. If you are a California renter, be sure to review this document.

Why Being a Good Tenant Matters Beyond Your Housing Future

One of the biggest motivators for doing your part to be a good tenant is developing a good rental history so you’ll never have a problem renting in the future. But there are other reasons you should maintain a good relationship with your landlord and your neighbors.

Your rental history matters beyond just securing your ability to rent in the future.

• Evictions can affect your credit. If you are evicted, it’s likely that it will also show up on your credit history report. An eviction is not something lenders or employers want to encounter when they conduct a  credit check, and it could keep you from getting an important loan, or worse, a job.
• You never know who will be able to help you in the future. Landlords interact with a lot of people on a day-to-day basis, so it’s never a bad thing to have a good landlord on your side. If you establish a positive relationship with your landlord, and you run into a dispute with another landlord down the line, you might be able to call on your past landlord as a reference. Establishing positive connections with your neighbors can also be helpful in life.
• Being a good tenant can also help you financially. Landlords are more likely to be flexible on lease agreements for good tenants. If you always pay your rent on time and keep your place clean, your landlord might forgo rent increases in hopes that you’ll stay in your home. If your landlord knows you are responsible, he might also be flexible on originally prohibited items like keeping a pet in your apartment.

Keeping up your end of the bargain in a rental agreement can help you in a number of ways.

Establishing a clean rental history report is just one of them.