Quality Affordable Apartments w/bad credit

[jeffcon0]

I was in a similar position when I moved here. I was digging out of credit card debt and my credit history was less than stellar to say the least. I explained up front to all brokers I met with that I did not have a nice looking credit record. Some were willing to work with me and some were not but I filtered it out very quickly. Be aware that many of the places you will see with landlords who accept poor credit may not be the best properties around.

I ended up finding an apartment by owner and paid up front first month, second month, last month and 2 months security deposit. All in it was a little over $6k up front. Those are the type of concessions you will need to make to find a place with a beat up credit score. I have since paid off all debt, paid everything on time or even early, have an excellent rental history and now I have very few problems with these type of dealings. It's amazing how much easier life is with a decent credit score. Definitly a life lesson that should be imposed upon debt mongering college students lest they end up like myself in post-grad debt hell.

My suggestion to you would be to look further out in less desirable (but perfectly safe) neighborhoods in the boroughs where you may be able to work directly with an owner who is more sympathetic to your plight. You will pretty much have to look out into the boroughs a ways in any case considering your budget.

[UpsonDowns]

You can also try a sublet or roommate situation. Those usually don't take good credit.

[rlrl]

do landlords look at FICO scores only or what derogatory items are on your credit?

also, when landlords do rental history searches, are they only looking for evictions and court actions or are they looking to see from your previous landlord when your rent was due and when the landlord actually received the check? in other words if you got hit with a late fee twice in your rental history of x years(but otherwise a good history) can a prospective landlord find out about it?

[SeventhFloor]

Originally Posted by rlrl

do landlords look at FICO scores only or what derogatory items are on your credit?

also, when landlords do rental history searches, are they only looking for evictions and court actions or are they looking to see from your previous landlord when your rent was due and when the landlord actually received the check? in other words if you got hit with a late fee twice in your rental history of x years(but otherwise a good history) can a prospective landlord find out about it?

sure they can, its as simple as going down to civil court and typing in a first name last name and apartment # at one of the public computers there. i don't know what they judge you on, based on what they find. but they will see everything from a five-day to a warrant.