Potential Landlord declined mother in law due to bankruptcy (rental, condo)

[jetsfan2012]

My mother in law and her ex split a year ago, and she has finally decided to move south. She was left with a load of bills due to the divorce and had to file a bankruptcy last spring, which has since discharged. She shared over the holidays she had found a nice condo to rent that would suit her needs, and be close enough to us, but give her the independence she wanted.

Well, the potential landlord(private investor) emailed her a one page application, and one of the questions was if she filed a bankruptcy or been evicted. She checked it and wrote it the reason for the bankruptcy.

As she was set to pay the application fee, she receives an email that says no need to bother paying the fee, and that they could not continue. She was very upset, which of course upset my wife. My wife believes that is not possible to deny someone unless you have looked at their application. From what I found online, this is all I found

The landlord may use his discretion on renting to you with a bankruptcy in your background. If he chooses to use this as the disqualifier, he must provide you an adverse action notice stating the reason for the denial, the name and contact information for the credit reporting bureau and the statement that you have the right to obtain a free report.


This may be more for the property managers and pros -

1. Is what I found true, and if so, what should my mother in law do because she did not get that letter?

2. Could her recent BK be a deal breaker for her to find anywhere to live down here?

She is certainly discouraged.

Thanks!

[CSD610]

It can and will affect her for a long time no matter what the reason for the Bankruptcy.
Especially since it is so recent she has yet to be able to even have a good start to establish new credit habits.
The hard copy letter reagarding the contact information for the credit bureau may come snail mail and not email.
Then she can follow the instructions in that letter to get the free credit report.

[jetsfan2012]

Thanks CSD. According to what she said, he did not pull a credit report. He told her when he looked at the application she emailed back and saw she put a check mark on bankruptcy, he declined her.

[Tomahawk79]

In what area is she looking to rent and what is her budget? Can she provide proof of income?

[EricBoyd]

For my company rental qualifications, I clearly state that a bankruptcy must be Discharged. If a potential applicant has a bankruptcy that's open, closed, or dismissed, I will not approve them. To give that investor/landlord the benefit of the doubt, maybe they were just trying to save your mother the expense of the application fee, but didn't necessarily state that. Sadly, go-it-alone landlords don't always have their act together.

[jetsfan2012]

just wanted to provide an update:

Tomahawk - She was looking in first Jax Beach, but also near Town Center. I dont have the community in particular.

Eric -I agree, and it was the owner who seemed to not have it all together.