Comments on: What is the landlord looking for in a credit check?

By: Karianne

Karianne — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:53:59 +0000

They pull your full credit report from at least 1 of the bureaus (Experian, Equifax, and Transunion). If I were you, pull your own report first and make sure it is 100% accurate. You can get it for free at: http://www.annualcreditreport.com once per year.

The credit report holds your personal information including: where you’ve lived, names or aliases, employers, credit cards, installment accounts (loans), and other people that have pulled your credit. They also usually pull a score and that is determined by the length of time your credit has been established and how responsibly you’ve managed your finances.

I used a company that improved my scores dramatically, like 150 points, very quickly called The Credit Insiders.
http://www.thecreditinsiders.com/index.html

Hope that helps.
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By: Biff

Biff — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 17:18:59 +0000

It depends upon the property. If you are applying to a desirable property that attracts good quality tenants, then obviously your score will need to be higher(knowing they pull credit). Some may discount bad scores due to medical bills, etc and weigh in on the rest.

In very undesirable properties you might just need a pulse or less than three evictions.
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By: Roz

Roz — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:56:59 +0000

When I run a credit check on someone, I don’t really look at the score as much as the payments. I see if there are anything in collections and for how much. If there was an unusual circumstance (medical, job loss, etc.) then I won’t weight my decision on that as much.

If there are debts that are within the last year and they are less than $200, I would look at that and wonder why has this not been taken care of if their income supports it.

I also check to see if there is collections from other Management companies and/or any evictions. If there is, I require last month’s rent &/or a co-signor
References :
I’m a landlord

By: Landlord

Landlord — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:46:59 +0000

They look at the whole thing. I personally ignore the score and just check to see if they pay their bills, if they force people into collections, and if they were ever evicted.

I am usually OK with anything over 680 for a score, anything lower is a red flag that they are dishonest.
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By: T

Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:24:59 +0000

Home Owners are looking for a pattern of unpaid rentals, (if reoprted) and past due bills, such as light bill phone bill from acertain property in the past, also bankruptcy tax liens, etc.
References :
Randall Tuttle/ Marketing Manager
TMG
Rental Company

By: Frank

Frank — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:34:59 +0000

They are getting a credit report which mostly shows credit cards and car loans but will also have debts that went to collections. So if your cell phone and other utilities were always paid on time, those will not show, unless you refused to pay your final phone bill then that will show up.

The apartment manager will look at the FICO score and bad marks such as late payments and charge-offs, mostly ignoring the rest such as how much the balances are. They can care less how much you owe on credit cards and your car, as long as you show a history of making your payments.
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By: Ray

Ray — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:28:59 +0000

I’m going through the same thing I can afford it but my credit is jacked,
thing is if my credit was good I would buy instead of rent.
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By: mtwaites

mtwaites — Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:12:59 +0000

The reason that they do a credit checks is to make sure that they will be able to get adequate rent money. Also sometimes those that have lower credit can sometimes be risk also to other things as well. Sometimes people with lower credit levels can be not as a good of a person i.e.: crimes etc. There are many good people like you, but that is one of the reasons why they have to check.
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