Finding a Place in/around Portland with Bad Credit (apartments, foreclosures)

[CBaillo]

I've been actively working on bettering our credit for a year. I've taken second jobs to pay off old debts, and everything, but we're still in the in between period where even things that have been paid off are still sitting there waiting to be taken off.

So even though I've done a lot of work on our credit, if it's run now, there is still enough to make it look bad. Bad enough to get declined.

It's never been an issue for us,for our four years in Central NY. It seemed that most people renting houses/properties there were private owners, and went on rental history (of which our history is spotless), and didn't even run credit checks. But the majority of property I've seen in Portland and surrounding suburbs are property management company run, and the credit check is paramount.

I can't afford to be paying application fees to just fail and get denied....Are there resources or other places to look that I can get into easier, without having to move into a ghetto building where they don't credit check, or lend more weight on rental history? I'm not rich, with my wife and I paying 30-40 dollars each every place we find...it's getting quite expensive.

[Minervah]

It's been my renting experience that unless they know you, even an individual property owner will do a credit check. Those landlords have only to put out a "For Rent" sign on the lawn and they will have many applicants within less than a day.

Your best bet is to come here and search the neighborhoods for rental signs. Then you can explain your situation to the prospective landlord face-to-face.

Regarding a good neighborhood, that may depend upon where you are working: suburb? city? How far a commute are you looking at? If you can narrow that down, it will be easier to advise you as to where to and where not to relocate.

[Lindy2011]

I know what you mean. I loved, married, and finally divorced a man who was a liar and a cheat when it came to money. He covered his actions very effectively and manipulated me to believe him because he knew how much I loved him. I have been free of him since 2003, but unfortunately not free of the debt he racked up in our marriage. I did as the other person mentioned: I drove around the neighborhoods I was interested in living in, wrote down phone numbers of the places that had signs out that looked like they were privately owned, contacted them and went from there. I've lived in the same, really nice townhouse 2003-present and the rent hasn't gone up once! The landlord is really nice and I pay on time so I've asked to have this documented with the credit agencies to help give my credit a boost. It is hard to come back from bad credit. I admire you all your hard work. Know that you are not alone!

[Smiled]

The Portland market is not THAT tight. There is a lot of bad credit around these days, with the foreclosures and high unemployment. As a result, from what I have heard and read, landlords have become more flexible. HOUSES do tend to rent quickly, but I see apartments running specials.

My advice is to discuss your situation up front before applying, and ask their advice. Be willing to explain in detail. You may find that additional security deposit will alleviate their fears, so you can offer it if you have it.

Sincerity and frankness win the day, in my opinion.
Best of luck!

[Smiled]

Oh - one other thing - you can get your credit scores from MyFico.com for $15 or so - that would be worth knowing and discussing.

[hamellr]

You can get your credit scores from CreditKarma.com for free.

[derniss]

Originally Posted by Lindy2011

I know what you mean. I loved, married, and finally divorced a man who was a liar and a cheat when it came to money. He covered his actions very effectively and manipulated me to believe him because he knew how much I loved him. I have been free of him since 2003, but unfortunately not free of the debt he racked up in our marriage. I did as the other person mentioned: I drove around the neighborhoods I was interested in living in, wrote down phone numbers of the places that had signs out that looked like they were privately owned, contacted them and went from there. I've lived in the same, really nice townhouse 2003-present and the rent hasn't gone up once! The landlord is really nice and I pay on time so I've asked to have this documented with the credit agencies to help give my credit a boost. It is hard to come back from bad credit. I admire you all your hard work. Know that you are not alone!

lol this is more common than one would think! Great to hear your comeback, good luck. Learn from your past!

[derniss]

Originally Posted by Smiled

The Portland market is not THAT tight. There is a lot of bad credit around these days, with the foreclosures and high unemployment. As a result, from what I have heard and read, landlords have become more flexible. HOUSES do tend to rent quickly, but I see apartments running specials.

My advice is to discuss your situation up front before applying, and ask their advice. Be willing to explain in detail. You may find that additional security deposit will alleviate their fears, so you can offer it if you have it.

Sincerity and frankness win the day, in my opinion.
Best of luck!

Great advice, like it.

[khyron]

Originally Posted by hamellr

You can get your credit scores from CreditKarma.com for free.

There is only one web site where you can legitimately get your credit report for "free" and you can verify that I'm not making this up here:

The Federal Trade Commission's Information on Free Annual Credit Reports

Other sites tend to involve some sort of data harvesting for advertisers and/or signing you up for a free period of some "service" which you need to jump through hoops to then opt-out of (and which will likely result in interminable spam).

[hamellr]

Originally Posted by khyron

There is only one web site where you can legitimately get your credit report for "free" and you can verify that I'm not making this up here:

The Federal Trade Commission's Information on Free Annual Credit Reports

Other sites tend to involve some sort of data harvesting for advertisers and/or signing you up for a free period of some "service" which you need to jump through hoops to then opt-out of (and which will likely result in interminable spam).

CreditKarma's schtick is that they give you offers on the site to "save money." Most of them are pretty useless if you have decent credit. Never been spammed via Email in the five years I've used them off and on.