Am I going to have trouble renting an apartment? (apartments, lease, disclosure)

[themosthigh]

36 years old and had been living at home for the past 16 years in my mother's multifamily home. Picked up and moved myself to Florida 6 months ago where I rent a room from someone month to month. My name is not on the lease and I have never signed a lease in my life. I gross about $3500/month with overtime. 1br apartments where I would like to live are in the $1100-1400/month range.

Been getting scared lately as my roommate has been having trouble covering the rent and he was 2 weeks late with the rent in April even though I paid my part early. Now he is talking about moving sometime this summer. Aside from him being bad with money, there are other things that have turned me off from having a roommate and will pretty much be against sharing a place with ANYONE once this living situation ends.

I'm preparing myself for when the time comes and have started an apartment fund so I have a bunch of cash to throw down seperate from my emergency fund and checking account. Have about $3000 set aside so far strictly for an apartment. Emergency fund and checking account contains about $12000. Debt free and have excellent credit (800+). Am I going to have trouble getting a place without a real rental history? Most property companies who manage apartments where I'm looking say on their web pages that renting from family does not count as a rental history. Thoughts?

[Electrician4you]

Can you establish residency at your current place? You get any bills there? Getting a apartment shouldn't be too tough. You got the credit and cash. Unless the apartments have some very strict rules requiring years of established rental history I don't see why you would be denied

[themosthigh]

I am already using the place I'm staying as a residence. Have a state ID with this apartment as my address and it is listed as my address on my most recent tax return, pay stubs, bank accounts, and car insurance. Only problem is I'm not on the lease and the managment company doesn't know I live here.

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by themosthigh

........Debt free and have excellent credit (800+). Am I going to have trouble getting a place without a real rental history? .........?

Someone will take you. Good credit score means a lot. Your income is a bit thin to qualify, so you'll be in one of the lower priced rentals.

I wouldn't take you because you have no landlord references, but some landlords would accept a larger deposit or a cosigner in lieu of the rental history. You are just going to have to search harder.

I suggest, that because you don't fit inside the box, you discuss the issues with the potential landlord before you pay your application fee. There is no reason to waste your money if the answer is "no" right off the bat.

You'll not get a "yes" without having your application reviewed, so you are going to have to lose alot of application fees. But no reason to spend one if the landlord knows, without looking at your application, that the answer is going to be no.

[Corn-fused]

Then you won't be able to use your current apt as a reference so you are basically going to be trying to find an apt with no rental history.

All you can do is try calling some of the places that are stating that you must have rental history and renting from family does not count. Explain your situation, good credit, income and job, etc, etc and see what they say. I would try not to, if at all possible, mention your current living situation especially if you were not on a lease and you were living there without the LL knowing it. It will not bode well. If asked, just say you have been staying with a friend or relative until you saved up enough money and had a found a stable job in the area.

I know that we would not have a problem with renting to someone like yourself based on what you have stated but we are in a different state. All you can do is try calling a few places and finding out. No one here can give you a definitive answer because every LL and/or property management handles things differently.

[Brice4TCIE]

My one concern is when you say 'my name is not on the lease'. Do you mean you were never named as a financially responsible party on a lease? Or that you were never named as an occupant? The former is solvable while the latter is much more difficult.

-----------
Assuming everything's above board and that you've just never been listed as a financially responsible party,

Something else you could try is working with your employer to provide a stronger reference (beyond employment verification).

Put together a letter that a manager/hr rep can sign which serves as a character reference ... Keep it short and clear but include any points you'd like addressed. (The same could go for past employers with which you have a good relationship).

Pulling your tax returns for the past five years would help too. (Censor any personal info not related to the application).

Employment/financial history isn't quite the same as rental history but it still says a lot to a LL about a potential Tenant. (Regular, predictable, and reliable are all good things!)

Combined with credit score/history and available cash ... I think you have a strong application most properties should at least be willing to consider.
-----------

Even if you do nothing else, streamline your process by being up front with your concerns before scheduling viewings and having everything prepared ahead of time.

[themosthigh]

Originally Posted by Brice4TCIE

My one concern is when you say 'my name is not on the lease'. Do you mean you were never named as a financially responsible party on a lease? Or that you were never named as an occupant? The former is solvable while the latter is much more difficult.

Both. I found this room on craigslist and just sign dude a check every month. It's a condo building where some people own but the majority are rented by a leasing company who bought most of the units during the economic collapse. I figured I'd be able to use my roommate as a reference since I've been signing checks to him every month with Rent in the memo. No?

[themosthigh]

My mother has a different last name. Will that change anything? How bout paying 6 months up front?

[Brice4TCIE]

Originally Posted by themosthigh

Both. I found this room on craigslist and just sign dude a check every month. It's a condo building where some people own but the majority are rented by a leasing company who bought most of the units during the economic collapse. I figured I'd be able to use my roommate as a reference since I've been signing checks to him every month with Rent in the memo. No?

The issue is determining whether or not you've made a good faith effort to comply with any rental requirements set forth by the property owner.

Does your current roommate own his condo? Perfect. Those checks show you've made a good faith effort.

Does your current roommate rent from the leasing company? Then these checks may be harmful. Most leases include clauses which require the disclosure of any changes in occupancy information regardless of financial responsibility. (Many require written notice/approval for such changes as well).

While you didn't sign the lease, it could look like you failed to make a good faith effort to disclose this information to the property owner (or management company).

Start by tactfully trying to figure out your roommate's current occupancy arrangement (own/rent). If you're considering using your roommate as a reference ... It should be as easy as asking.

If the roomy claims to own, it ends there. You're good to go. If the roomy claims to rent, ask a quick followup question to determine if the roomy told the management company. If the roomy claims to have told the management company then, again, you're good to go.

If roomy wont answer, or if roomy claims to not have informed management, then it gets tricky.

Coming out and telling the management company you've been living on site and undocumented for a period of time may have serious consequences (even if you've acted in good faith). Probably not a good idea at this point.
----------

The concern you're trying to address here is that you don't want a prospective landlord to think you are likely to allow undocumented residents at the property; or, that you may withhold occupancy information (changes) in the future.

Occupancy info represents a safety/legal concern many landlords will care about regardless of whether or not the rent is paid on time.

When you volunteer the information about your concerns, try to frame it in a way paints you as responsible and forthcoming. There's no need to say anything more than, "I've been paying rent to roomy according to a private agreement". If roomy agrees to be a reference, then you can include that as well. If they ask for proof, you can volunteer the check payment records.

---------

Last name info for your mother shouldn't be important. If it comes up, "Oh, yeah, her last name is xyz. Sorry for the confusion." should be plenty.

[Boo Boo Kitty]

If you have 3k saved for an apt, and an additional 12k for emergency, why not just offer to pay the whole lease up front of a year?

I don't know ANY landlords who would turn that down! ��