Credit Scores and Rents... (San Francisco, Marina: bad credit, student loans, broker)

[mhvos]

Hi!

I just moved to the Bay Area and signed a lease at the Marina. My question is, my husband's joinign me later on from the OC, and he doesn't have the best credit, really. Well, ok, it's bad because of a few student loans from a few years back when we just got out of college. Thing is, we make a substantial amount yearly, and I have excellent credit. Also, I own a home (but he's not under the lease). So I'm hoping that the good outweighs the bad. So my question is, do landlords generally kick you out if at least one of you doesn't have good credit? Or how does this usually work? I'm hoping that my credit, and all the other good things listed above cancels the bad out. Argh!

[Ultrarunner]

Sounds like you should be able to qualify on your own.

What ever you do... don't lie about your husband's bad credit... Being up-front goes a long way and speaks to your integrity.

Credit is only 1/3 of the equation. It is an indicator of how well you have honored your past agreements.

As an example, if you are willing to stiff the phone company over a couple of hundred dollars then why would I think you would not do the same to me over a much larger amount???

[HarleyGal707]

I own a rental house in the Bay Area and I have found that the vast majority of my applicants have dodgy credit histories. I am not saying that the majority of renters in general have screwed-up credit, I'm saying that the majority of the individuals who I encounter during this process do not have good credit histories. I have rejected some applicants outright because their credit was horrendous, but I have come to realize that there are a lot of reasons for having less-than-perfect credit and so I don't judge applicants solely on their credit. I look at several other factors: most important to me is solid, stable employment, past rental experiences (absolutely no evictions), condition of the applicant's current home, and the likelihood that they will stay in my rental for at least 2 years (because going through the process of finding a new tenant is a painintheass). If they are in collections, I do look at the total amount they owe and if they are making an honest effort to repay their debts. I won't rent to someone who isn't trying to straighten out their messes. I hope this helps.

[choctawmicmac]

They can't credit-check the person who is not on the lease.

Also, sometimes, you find places that are more lenient or sometimes don't check at all, through word-of-mouth and not through rental brokers, the Chronicle, the want ads anywhere else, Craigslist, etc. In other words, not advertised at all. Like, "for rent" sign in the window when you were walking by. In a less hostile housing market I would say that in the dodgy areas where you would think there would be less competition, they would be less picky about "less than perfect" credit. But not these days. Even a ****hole apartment in the TL would probably have like 100 applicants and thus, to weed out 99 applicants, "perfect credit" required.

The only answers you are going to get on any Internet forum are going to be from people who are property owners themselves and so have the San Francisco landlords' perspective on credit requirements for tenants. Try to find some kind of Tenant-oriented resources in the City. You'll get more answers that support your point of view that way.

In the San Francisco housing climate, there are two sides to this problem. The landlords, faced with hundreds of applicants for every available unit. And the homeless and the homeless-advocates. It's like there is no in-between. No middle ground!

[nevercoldcall]

For a few years I dealt with bad credit and while renting I found that income carried more weight. Most landlords know that the rent gets paid before everything else, and also know that as long as you have the income, you're going to pay, because having a place to live is much higher in importance than all your other bills.

HarleyGal707, on the "absolutely no evictions" thing, heads up if you see any from Mark-Taylor properties. I lived in one of their apartments from 2000-2002, and learned the hard way that they run a scam: They pretend to not have received the tenant's notice to vacate, file an eviction and post it on the door knowing the tenant will never receive it, just to get the default judgment and try to collect on it. They did this to me and I had to go to court and really fight to get it overturned.

Personally I would never own a rental property in CA. I know three people who have been burned badly as landlords in CA. I moved here from AZ where I would definitely own rentals - if someone doesn't pay, you have them out in 10 days tops. It sounds like it's a hassle in CA to evict a deadbeat tenant. My experience in other states is most landlords don't even check credit, they only verify income, and my girlfriend who is from NY said the same thing about NY and was amazed that they run credit checks out here.