Renting to felons (lease, evicted, rental, credit report)
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Ugh, 2008 has been a really rotten year for my family. In february the police showed up at our door, and decided that our house wasnt clean enough for my niece to live there. They arrested all of us, we didnt go to jail, we had it cleaned up in the weekend and got my niece back and everything has been fine since. My sisters DHS guy comes once a week and it has never been a problem. I will say it got kind of out of hand, but it was nowhere near needing to be arrested for (of course everyone is going to say that right haha) I am active in my church, in school, had worked steadily for 5 years up until then. I havent even so much as stolen a piece of gum when I was a child, Ive always prided myself in being a good person. I found out that oregon has a problem with "clean house syndrome" marion county where I live is the worst, their expectations would put 70 percent of people behind bars for it, if they have a reason to come into your home (I dont know why they did...they dont tell you that)
We all went to court, and 3 of us got misdemeanors (criminal mistreatment) but my mom had a horrible lawyer and got a felony. My lawyer was pretty sure it would get put down to a misdemeanor, I dont have any kids, I didnt own the house..I was basically here...but my mom's lawyer didnt even contact her beforehand, he saw her when she got to court, said they were pleading guilty etc. She should have asked for a different lawyer, but having never been even close to that situation, she was terrified and didnt know what to do.
Now were in another bad situation. The economic crisis has hit us hard, and we got behind on our mortgage, my mom was working with the mortgage company, but Friday a man showed up at our door and said he bought our house in auction that morning...I cant believe that we live in a state where they can sell your house out from underneath you without telling you anything about it. Believe me, weve done our research, there is a loophole where they dont have to tell you...
Now were forced to move...which in this time of hardship, is better for us..cheaper rent etc. its not a good time to be buying a house (though not a good time to be foreclosed on either haha)
so now we have 10 days to move, and have no idea what to do. Were not worried about the misdemeanors (me and my sister are adults..we rent the rooms from my parents..it works for us, Im single and dont like being alone, and my sister has 2 kids and its good for her to have the help) no application weve run into says anything about misdeamenors, but they do mention felonies.
My question is, with my mom..no previous background problems at all, never been evicted before this, good rental history..but she has the darn felony..she isnt a detriment to society, is there any hope??
Im thinking that when they are looking at your background they are looking for pattern, sex crimes, drugs, violence etc..any thoughts?
The credit report has more influence I think than the felony. And with the eviction...well looks like next year it might be crappy apt for a year or two. Sorry.
And if the felony is over NOT keeping your home clean well..good luck sister if they can see that nitty gritty.
My question is, with my mom..no previous background problems at all, never been evicted before this, good rental history..but she has the darn felony..she isnt a detriment to society, is there any hope??
I'd be more concerned about your Mom's poor house-keeping than the felony. Most landlords want the home kept clean and in good condition.
That said, it's the nature of the felony that matters, not that it's a felony. One can get drunk and kill someone in a car accident and that's a misdemeanor. One can be caught with a small amount of meth and that's a felony in many states.
Just tell her to remain silent about it except to answer truthfully all questions on the rental application. If the landlord wants to know more, they can ask. Otherwise, don't worry about it.
I'd be more concerned about your Mom's poor house-keeping than the felony. Most landlords want the home kept clean and in good condition.
Steve
I completely understand, and that wont be a problem because she has to keep it clean, or she gets arrested again haha, however landlords dont know that, thats why I was wondering if there was any possibility fo finding something, I thought maybe someone here had been through the same thing. I guess we keep trying, and eventually someone is going to rent to us..hopefully.
I thought probably, with the felonies they are more worried about people who are dangerous or doing drugs, I wasnt sure if they had the same feeling no matter what the felony was.
As a Landlord I would be worried how my house would look after a while...I don't think you all got arrested for not wahing the dishes or didn't clean the windows.
I'm not familar with your State but if you were just arrested for not vacuum, etc.. you could have go against the conviction and IMO since you didn't do that there must have been a merit in this story....
A recent conviction can be against you when you want to rent.
I don't understand why you didn't know the hosue was going to be auctioned...didn't you or your family ever looked at the mail or just didn't open it....and wasn't your mom aware that she had not pay the bill?
Ugh, 2008 has been a really rotten year for my family. In february the police showed up at our door, and decided that our house wasnt clean enough for my niece to live there. They arrested all of us, we didnt go to jail, we had it cleaned up in the weekend and got my niece back and everything has been fine since. ?
Shenanigans...who gets arrested for not cleaning their house? Unless you've been warned that it's a health hazard and you've ignored previous warnings to get it fixed, there's no way the cops will just show up out of the blue and arrest you for a messy house. And it would have to be REALLY FREAKIN' BAD to get any attention in the first place.
As a landlord, I wouldn't touch any of you with a ten foot pole. You've obviously shown yourselves to be incapable of keeping a home without trashing it. I wouldn't risk mine on you.
Shenanigans...who gets arrested for not cleaning their house? Unless you've been warned that it's a health hazard and you've ignored previous warnings to get it fixed, there's no way the cops will just show up out of the blue and arrest you for a messy house. And it would have to be REALLY FREAKIN' BAD to get any attention in the first place.
As a landlord, I wouldn't touch any of you with a ten foot pole. You've obviously shown yourselves to be incapable of keeping a home without trashing it. I wouldn't risk mine on you.
I agree with you...unless you want cockroaches to take over you house....
wow...glad I put my story out there and asked for advice, none of us will be on the street, we got it figured out, thanks for all your help and compassion..I hope every one of you are in a situation where people have the chance to judge you and give their opinion on you and your character..I was asking a simple question about whether they will rent to us with a felony on my mom's record, and all I got was judgment..so thanks..I would never be so cruel to anyone, I don't care what they did...there are more then one side to every story...no, they didnt tell us they were going to auction our house..they didnt, we knew we were behind but my mom was working with them, so it was a surprise...do you know how it feels to lose your house?? many many people are being foreclosed on, and not just bad people...many people, it doesnt mean anything except the economy sucks and is hard for people. Weve rented a lot, the landlords have always been in our house, have always been friendly with us and weve never had this kind of problem..I will admit it got out of control, but it was never bad enough for that to happen to us, I don't care what you guys believe...sometimes justice gets it wrong, just a thought.
thanks for all your help, Ill remember where I dont want to go when I need advice and help in the future..but if I want judgments on my character or me as a person Ill make sure to stop back by.
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