There has been a move by many apartments to screen prospective tenants by running up their credit. This practice was not very widespread before and came to be reflected in many complex policies after the tragic events of September 11, 2001. In those days, having a job for six months or more or having an income of at least 3 times more than the monthly rent was enough to qualify one. This is not the case. Many apartments have resorted to routine credit ad rental history checks to weed out potential tenants and many have been denied a decent place to live.

Credit and rental history checks causing many to be turned down

There are a variety of reasons behind why apartments look at an applicant’s credit and rental history. The most obvious is to determine if the prospective tenant has a tendency to break rental agreements (broken leases). They also check if one owes something to previous complexes. Some of them do an actual full credit check, while others will just check rental history. In many cases and in any of these cases, people are turned away and this adds to their misery, especially if they are desperate for housing. Credit checks also only look at the past and may not have a bearing on whether or not the person has reformed. Regardless, it is a huge inconvenience to be rejected.

Find out what your credit score is

It’s amazing how many people get turned down for bad credit and have no idea what they have under their belt. They also don’t know what information the apartments used to base their denial on. This cruel surprise should not be. Now it’s extremely easy to download all three of the bureau’s credit reports directly from the Internet for less than $50. Obtaining a copy of one’s credit ensures that they do not know what is causing the problem.

Getting approved despite spotty credit or a broken lease

There are numerous tactics that can be used to get approved for an apartment, even with a broken lease or bad credit. Many of these cannot be discussed in the scope of this article, but one of them is finding a co-signer. This is someone who has good credit and can act as a guarantor. You can also write a letter stating exactly what steps you are taking to remedy your bad credit. Many apartment complexes take this as a sign of good faith.

Want to get approved despite a broken lease or bad credit? There are several techniques that one can employ. One of the best is to find out which apartments in your area do NOT do credit checks or which ones do approve despite a broken lease.