Advice on places to rent with one person having good credit and the other having bad credit? (Seattle: apartment)

[peapod87]

Does anyone have any advice for two people looking for a place to rent in Seattle, where one person has bad credit, and the other has good credit?

[sekhmet1974]

Walk/drive around in the neighborhood you want to live and look for "for rent" signs, as well as utilizing Craigslist. My recommendation is to try to deal with owners rather than corporate rentals and then be upfront about your situation. Each get a copy of your credit report and offer to show it before applying (which will save you $25-50 each a pop). Be prepared to put down a bigger security deposit (perhaps extra month's rent) if asked for extra security. I say deal with the owners (face to face) if you can rather than corporations, because they will see you more as a real person than a number and will be able to see you as honest people who just hit a rough patch...more willing to give you a chance.

[The Siobhan]

What is the definition of bad credit? I have never heard of anyone being turned down for an apartment for purely having bad credit; usually, they would have to have an eviction or two, plus former charges from a landlord that has never been paid off. Otherwise, if it was just a few bad credit choices that dealt with credit cards or student loans, but you make a decent wage to cover the rent plus your expenses, then they ask for first and last month's rent in addition to the regular deposit. Some are even flexible to allow you to pay for the last month's rent in installments.

I had several health-related debts (surgery, hospital stays) that weren't covered by my insurance that went to a collector; I was paying them off but they did effect my credit score and I did have to pay a larger deposit before moving into an apartment and that was even a corporate owned complex.