How to Rent a House or Apartment With No Credit Check

Tips For Renting With No Credit Check

If you want to rent a home, lacking a good credit history is often a problem. The landlord will want to run a credit check on you before they agree to have you as a tenant.

Sought-after rental homes don't tend to stay on the market for very long either, with tenants that have great credit quickly being approved by landlords. If you don't have a good credit history or credit score, renting a home is far more difficult.

But it is still possible to rent a house with no credit check, and not as difficult as you might imagine, let’s look at your options.

What Credit Score is Required to Rent a Home?

When renting an apartment for the first time it is important to know that landlords typically are looking for credit scores that are above 600. This is at the low end of average credit scores, with scores over 700 being considered excellent and less likely to face difficulties when renting a home. If you don't have a credit score this high, or a credit history at all, it is still possible to find houses for rent with no credit check.

Finding a Private Landlord

When searching for “home rentals no credit check,” private landlords might appear in your results. This is because private landlords tend to be more flexible in the tenets they’ll accept.

Private landlords are looking at their empty property, that is losing them money, and looking for ways to turn around their fortunes. They are, therefore, often more willing to overlook a less than perfect credit history. They might have a mortgage to pay on the home, and with the normal expenses of owning a property, they will be keener to overlook the usual credit check.

Using a Co-signer

It is possible to rent a house with no credit check if you have help from a co-signer. It might be a close friend or relative that is willing to help you out, but whoever they are, they need to have great credit.

The co-signer will have to submit an application form and provide documentation to the landlord to prove their income.

Your co-signer has to be able to place a lot of trust in you because if you fail to pay, it will be on them to pay the rent. It can also harm their credit if you don't keep up repayments. This will be an extra incentive for you to pay your rent on time to avoid a difficult situation with your friend or relative.

If you have checked your credit score and know that it is poor, using a co-signer might be one of your better alternatives if you run into trouble finding a no credit check apartment.

Getting a Roommate

While a co-signer doesn't have to live with you, a roommate will. If they have a good credit history, they can help you avoid a credit check. Your landlord or management company might be happy with your combined incomes and the roommate’s credit rating without checking yours.

Getting an apartment with no credit check may be great but not at the expense of having an awful roommate. Before committing to a rental with anyone you better be absolutely sure you can live with this person.

You should make sure you understand their habits like whether they are a night owl or an early bird. The thought of not being able to sleep well probably will be important. Finding out the hard way you made a poor roommate choice won't be pleasant.

Pay Money Upfront

Another way around a credit check requirement is to offer to pay more money upfront. In fact, when you have no credit or lousy credit, paying multiple months' rent is one of the best ways to convince a landlord to rent to you. This reduces the risk to a landlord and makes them more likely to be happy to rent to you.

Doing so is normally only going to be an option with a private landlord, where an offer of additional months’ rent upfront, will help them see beyond your lack of credit history.

Before you consider such an option, you need to make sure you have the money available to actually follow through with such a deal. You will also need to stick to your rent schedule without missing payments.

Proving Your Income

If you don't have a credit history to prove that you are going to be a reliable tenant, perhaps proof of income will be enough. If a landlord can see that you are earning enough money to pay the rent each month, they are going to be more willing to forgo a credit check.

Typically a landlord will want to see that you are earning 2 or 3 times more money than the rent each month. If you don't quite reach these levels, and you have some savings, providing proof of this money could be enough to keep the landlord happy.

Final Thoughts No Credit Check Rentals

Finding houses to rent with no credit check is easier than you might expect. Though it requires more work on your part to get the home you want, it is well worth putting the time in if you really like the property.

There are many considerations to think about before renting an apartment or a home. Hopefully, you have found this information helpful in your planning for a rental opportunity. If you follow the steps outlined here, you'll be in a much better position to either find an apartment with no credit check or have a fallback plan instead.

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