Trying to Rent and bad Credit????
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| Wed, 03-29-2006 - 10:36am |
I would love some advice, I am a serious lurker here, I started lurking 2 years ago. In those past 2 years; Dh and I had $57,000 in debt, we now have it down to $39,000, Dh has finished school and we are now expecting our second child.
Due to some unforseen circumstances (Dh boss went back on his contract, landlord had a water pipe break under ground on the property and refuses to have it repaired) Dh needs to find a new job. The job market in NB, Can is terrible with very few positions. So he is going where the money and work is, 5000 miles away to Edmonton, Alberta.
He will stay with a family friend till he finds work, BUT he needs to find us a place ASAP, I preg and need to fly out soon b/c OB said I am getting too high risk to wait much longer.
We currently live in a tiny fishing village, where rent is done over a handshake. The place we live in has no rent at the moment b/c we exchanged labour for rent (but got screwed was supposed to be 2 years free rent and he changed his mind, LONG STORY), he doesn't claim the rent on his income tax cause he is living with his gf...before that we lived with my parents. We are no longer on good terms with our current landlord , he has shown up drunk here several times, his health is deteriorating and he is a heavy drinker (when we made the deal he was clean and sober and an old family friend) he has called a few times 3 in the morning demanding money but then never remembers calling the next day.
So now I have discovered that in the big city (lol I am such a country girl this is all new to me) they require credit checks and references from your past two landlords, this means our crazy landlord and my parents. Dh does not ake very much money and we do not have great credit. We have gone to the bank and like they said, we do not have great credit but it is all student loans, except for one $2000 Visa. Two of my sutdent loans are in collections, these collections are owned and run by the gov't, I was still able to claim the interest I paid on them on my income tax.
My worry is we will get denied due to our bad credit and have no place to live. plus they all ask about DH work experience, he has only been working since Aug 2005 before he was in school, will that count against us too?
Do you have any suggestions?
Does anyone have any suggestions? All these credit checks make me uncomfortable because they will hurt our credit evne further. Dh was just at the bank and they said his credit was a level D, which was not great. I have never heard of the letter system before just FICO scores which I do not know but have a feeling it is well below 600 maybe closer to 400.
Help??? or is this a lost cause.
Carla


Hi Carla,
I am usually a lurker too (although I introduced myself awhile ago), but I thought I would jump out and say hello. I don't know if I am able to help you that much, but I will try...
I am originally from Ontario, and in September moved to . . . you guessed it . . . Edmonton! Now, I never had any problems finding a place (I did so on the internet) and I was never asked for any credit checks or old landlord info BUT thats probably because I moved into an apartment with a roomate who already had it. I really think its going to depend on where you want to move and into what type of place. There are so many students around here that landlords can't be too stingy about their requirments otherwise they wouldn't be able to rent to anyone!!! Are you looking for a house or an apartment? In what area of the city (if you know). I your husband working in Edmonton or is he going to be one of the Fort Mac commuters??
I will keep my eyes open for any rental advertisements (they always have them on bulletin boards at the school and hospital!)
If there is anything I can do to help, just let me know. When I moved out here I knew one person and if it wasn't for him, my life would have been so much more difficult!
Hope it all works out for you!
Becky
Bex -
Hey: I thought I deleted it, but here is the website that I used to find my place. Its geared toward students, but it may give you an idea of prices and what to expect:
http://www.su.ualberta.ca/su/businesses_and_services/infoserv
Just scroll down to housing listings.
Hope this helps!
Becky
Bex -
Thank you Becky! My Dh is going to try to find something in Edmonton but if he has to go between Fort McMurray and Edmonton he will.
I am looking and hoping for a townhouse, I have a toddler and another baby due. To make things even more difficult we have two small yorkies.
I really do not want an apartment, I have lived in an apartment before and with a stroller it is a nightmare.
I am just worried about the credit checks. Right now I will live in any part of the city, that I am not too picky about. We know very little ablout Edmonton, Dh will be staying with friends in Sherwood park (which we cannot afford!!!), we are going to call them tonight, she declared bancruptcy (sp?) before mivng to Edmonton and they now rent a house for about $1500, I am hoping to find soemthing under $1000, preferably around $800 month. The job market appears so much healthier out your way. here the job wanted ads are about5 a week. And minimum wage, DH says he will work construction if he has too (he has diploma in Mechanical Engineering Technology).
If I can find someplace, I will send our friend to check it out and then I can send her money to pay them or DH when he gets there next weekend can go pay.
I just want to get out to there!!
Right now we know one couple and that is it!! I am very scared but excited. I am praying everything will work out and DH will find a job. And a townhouse or house!!!!
Anyhelp would be a preciated, my email is cbagley@nbnet.nb.ca for a few more days, then everything will be disconnected. But I check these boards regularly!
Carla
carla-
I am not sure if this will help you or not...but in the US there are all kinds of apartments that are listed in the sunday paper. Many of those are listed by just regular people who have a few properties and don't run credit checks. My husband and I rented 4 different places before we bought and only 1 ran a credit check.
That might be something you could do there?
good luck!
Loca
Carla,
My goodness, what STRESS! I don't know if this helps or if they do this in Canada but in my area, if you have bad credit, they have you pay a higher deposit. For example, the last time we rented, they normally asked for $1000 deposit but we had to pay $1500. It sucked but we never got turned down for an apartment.
Good Luck,
Cristin
Hello,
I understand your frustration with your low credit score. However, you (or DH) should be able to find a rental house or apartment that does not require a credit check. Normally, these are operated by people who rent 2-3 apartments, or 2-3 houses. They are more likely to give you a chance.
On the Dave Ramsey website, there is an article about this very topic:
http://www.davesays.org/index.cfm?FuseAction=dspContent&intContentID=4430
This is the Question the article answers:
Dear Dave,
What can you do when your credit is so bad that you can’t even rent an apartment? I make enough money now to afford one, but my credit history is so bad, no one wants to rent to me.
Ryan
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Sincerely,
Lindsey Schocke
Geeks on Tap: Mission Accomplished
Welcome Carla,
I don't have any suggestions for you but see others have replied.
Becky
CL of 4th, 5th & 6th grade Scoliosis