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I have been lurking heavily and am looking for advice. I'll give all the details I can and I am hoping some owners can give me some advice on how to communicate to find a new apartment in my situation.
The Details:
- 30 Year Old Finance Professional
- 790-800 Credit Scores
- $112,000 base income, $150,000 applying with GF(her record is completely clean)
- Looking at apartments between $1700 - $2600 rent
- $25k in bank, $65k in stocks
- In current apartment for last 3 years (new owner in last year)
EDIT: I am also a Military Veteran, Army National Guard, Deployed 2007. Secret Security Clearance with the Department of Defense. I have no idea if this affects renting but I'd like to add all details.
3 years ago I moved to LA to start my first consulting job. I applied for 2 apartments and much to my shock I was denied for the first one based on an eviction. I had never been evicted so I checked the address, it was from 2 rentals back during college. An eviction dated in mid 2012.
I had moved out of the house and my roommates decided to stay, we signed a form removing me from the least and I turned it in to the property management firm(let's call them AZ Firm) in person in 2011.
At this point I had never received a call, letter or email from the firm so I was quite surprised. I called AZ firm and told them I had no idea what was going on and that I had never heard of this until today (late 2012).
The woman on the phone said she would call me back. I was pretty frantic as I needed a place to live all I had was my car and a hotel room.
She calls back,
"Sir? I am sooooo sorry, I found your signed removal and it was never processed even though it was dated received in 2011. I am sending proof of the error and notifying our legal firm, please let us know how we can help"
I was blown away but I sent this information to the second apartment and thank god they accepted it and allowed me to sign a lease so I could start my job.
After this I disputed my credit reports with the proof of error and my credit scores all shot back up.
Fast forward three years,
I am doing very well at work and would like to get a nicer apartment, I apply with a firm that checks Experian, I check and it reads "no potentially negative items". Great.
They call and say I have THREE evictions, now I am very surprised. They say they will send me the addresses but never send them. I provide the proof of error immediately and ask for a copy/addresses. At this point I gave them a $1,700 holding deposit.
Over the next 7 days I email 3 times and call at least 5 times and cannot get a hold of my rep. I read that holding deposits can be non-refundable and go in person to ask. They say I'm denied due to 3 evictions, I ask for a copy, they say their system is messed up and they can't pull my report but tell me it's appfolio who ran it.
I leave and go to appfolio.com to request a copy I get one emailed to me in 30 minutes. At this point I learn that "Tenant Screening" companies exist. Hence my confusion when they said they used Experian as that has no public records.
All 3 evictions are the exact same address 1 month apart The address that I have the proof of error for.
The eviction was reported 4 times (which i didn't realize until last week), AZ property requested the law firm remove me from the judgement. Which they did, for 1 of the 4. Hence "3" evictions.
At this point im pretty frustrated with my rep so I head back to the firm with the report in hand. My rep has had this info for seven days with my deposit and hasn't even looked at it as far as I can tell or answered my emails or calls.
I ask for my deposit back and they tell me (via email from an Iphone in 1 hour) I was denied anyway by the owner after reviewing my documents. I lost interest in the apartment after the customer service experience.
I have applied to 2 more apartments but I am worried the landlords will deny despite the proof of error, even with contacts for AZ property and their law firm who will confirm that it was a mistake.
I have begun the process with the law firm to remove the 3 other records from the court but it could take a month or two, and that won't cleanse the dozens of Tenant screen companies immediately AFAIK. I would like to rent in a week or two (GF moving to LA, I live in a tiny studio).
I understand a landlord with many apps (West LA) would rather take someone with nothing than read my letter from a law firm. But it's really frustrating to deal with this due to AZ Firms clerical error (I also did not know what a Tenant screen was until now, or I would have addressed this sooner).
I would really love any advice on how to communicate with a landlord without spooking them off. Or how to handle that this has potentially multiplied to many Tenant screen firms.
Contact a qualified local attorney and have them serve as your legal representative with the other parties. Sometimes all it takes is for the other party knowing you're no longer muddling through this yourself like a blind school kid and now have an attorney. They may think your getting ready to sue them and that may spark them to get everything fixed as fast as possible. Your attorney can ask the other law firm to provide a letter detailing that no evictions are on record and it's all a mix up on their part and they are trying to correct it. Landlords usually understand that these things do happen. As a side bonus, attorneys often find violations of the FCRA which have mandatory penalties and payments to you or they may find some violation of state laws and take action to have you compensated under those as well.
Contact a qualified local attorney and have them serve as your legal representative with the other parties. Sometimes all it takes is for the other party knowing you're no longer muddling through this yourself like a blind school kid and now have an attorney. They may think your getting ready to sue them and that may spark them to get everything fixed as fast as possible. Your attorney can ask the other law firm to provide a letter detailing that no evictions are on record and it's all a mix up on their part and they are trying to correct it. Landlords usually understand that these things do happen. As a side bonus, attorneys often find violations of the FCRA which have mandatory penalties and payments to you or they may find some violation of state laws and take action to have you compensated under those as well.
Wow! Thank you so much, the last couple weeks have been frustrating (the whole "see eviction = no regardless"). I am at a point where I can afford it, would you recommend an Arizona firm? (where it occurred).
Can you rent in the name of your Girlfriend with you listed as occupant?
The rental market is very tight right now... a simple two bedroom apartment has 50 applicants in a showing.
As a property manager... an eviction is a no-go... just too many others with a clear record... in renting.. an eviction is the kiss of death because it means court order was necessary to regain possession...
I realize mistake can happen and roommate situations are ripe for mistakes...
Can you rent in the name of your Girlfriend with you listed as occupant?
The rental market is very tight right now... a simple two bedroom apartment has 50 applicants in a showing.
As a property manager... an eviction is a no-go... just too many others with a clear record... in renting.. an eviction is the kiss of death because it means court order was necessary to regain possession...
I realize mistake can happen and roommate situations are ripe for mistakes...
We have considered this but my income is much higher, if she does not meet the 3x income will they reject her? I suppose she could get an income cosigner?
Thank you for your reply
EDIT: I am completely amazed I got my first apartment, probably only because it was an older small studio.
You can change your name, maybe cheaper than hire a lawyer and remove the Wrong eviction record.
Haha, and if you could get a new SS# to go with your new name, that might help. Otherwise, not so much.
Sorry this is happening to you, OP. Fortunately for you, the LL did acknowledge that they had the signed release. My first thought when reading through was that you said you delivered it in person, but not whether everyone else signed it, since a release is only valid if your roommates and the LL signed it also.
But they said they did have it, and got one of the legal cases vacated. All you can really do at this point is wait. If you incur legal expenses as a result of getting this error cleared up, you could send a bill to the LL, and take them to small claims if they don't pay, if you were so inclined. But it sounds like the LL's law firm is dealing with this, so I assume the LL is being billed.
I don't think there is any way you could clean this up in "a week or so". You could keep applying to different landlords, and might find one who will overlook it, but landlords hear "I didn't know I was evicted" or "My roommates got evicted after I moved out and I was named by mistake" from every single applicant with an eviction on their record, and 90+% of the time, it is a lie, so even with documentation in hand, you aren't going to get very far with most, so you really need to get it cleaned up and removed before most landlords will even talk to you.
Haha, and if you could get a new SS# to go with your new name, that might help. Otherwise, not so much.
Sorry this is happening to you, OP. Fortunately for you, the LL did acknowledge that they had the signed release. My first thought when reading through was that you said you delivered it in person, but not whether everyone else signed it, since a release is only valid if your roommates and the LL signed it also.
But they said they did have it, and got one of the legal cases vacated. All you can really do at this point is wait. If you incur legal expenses as a result of getting this error cleared up, you could send a bill to the LL, and take them to small claims if they don't pay, if you were so inclined. But it sounds like the LL's law firm is dealing with this, so I assume the LL is being billed.
I don't think there is any way you could clean this up in "a week or so". You could keep applying to different landlords, and might find one who will overlook it, but landlords hear "I didn't know I was evicted" or "My roommates got evicted after I moved out and I was named by mistake" from every single applicant with an eviction on their record, and 90+% of the time, it is a lie, so even with documentation in hand, you aren't going to get very far with most, so you really need to get it cleaned up and removed before most landlords will even talk to you.
Yes it was signed by all roommates date stamp right on it, along with it is a memo from the firm admitting I was not removed when I should have been in 2011. I have a copy thank goodness.
I am seriously considering a lawyer as this is affecting my work hours trying to resolve this and find a place. I am a businessman as well so I can appreciate why a LL would take the "don't care, next" attitude for the sake of time, sanity and just to avoid scammers. It just feels terrible as all, the rejection, trying to resolve this.
I have driven to the court, prop firm and law firm, I have been trying as hard as I can.
As for the "Tenant screen" companies, do they update their databases regularly? Or do they just buy data once a year for example. Will I need to dispute with as many as I can find in CA after the judgments are vacated?
Thank you!
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