Why do landlords and rental agencies check credit?
What do unpaid credit cards of four to six years ago have to do with the idea that you wouldn't pay rent, an essential bill, now?
I have unpaid credit card bills. I have always, always paid my rent on time.
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Favorite Answer
The credit check tells the landlord that you do not always pay what you should, when you should.
If you can get good references from former landlords showing that you always pay on time, a really good deposit (2-3 months worth) and someone who will legally guarantee that you will pay your rent then the landlord may be willing to consider your application.
You won't lose your deposit, and your guarantor will have nothing to worry about because you always pay your rent on time.
spalmer
If you hit a rough time 4-6 years ago and missed some credit card payments, it would not still be affecting your credit score... you can improve your scores greatly over the period of 12-18months... unless you're still in the habit of not paying what you need to.
Landlords and rental agencies, as well as lenders and future employers... all check your credit score to see if you're financially responsible. Many people would say that you shouldn't have had an issue with not paying your cc bills on time even with unemployment because you should only use a credit card if you can pay it off the same month and because you should have several months of expenses saved up for emergencies -- neither of these are easy choices, but it keeps you out of that situation and is part of financial responsibility.
If you don't have several months' of expenses saved up for an emergency... how will you keep paying your rent if you lose your job again? No one is looking at unpaid bills that occurred 4-6 years ago... they're looking at your current scores and whether you've had any recent unpaid bills, evictions, judgments, etc against you.
bapassey
The landlord is taking a risk when renting a property. Once they allow a person to move into an apartment/house they are trusting you to pay them. In most places a landlord cannot immediately evict a person for non-payment... some places it may take months to years to actually legally kick a tenant out. If a tenant doesn't pay then the landlord loses money every month on the property AND loses money on the process of evicting the tenant.
The whole thing is about responsibility. If I was a landlord then I would want to make sure my tenants were financially responsible and not the type of person that was going to mess me over, and a great way to check a person's financial responsibility is to check their credit.
I understand that your credit card problem stems from a few years back, but take the time to cut back on things if you haven't already. No more movies or non-essential now, pay off the cards, show that you are financially responsible and you will get to live in the place that you want.
Danielle
credit history speaks to your ability to manage money. at one time I had credit card debt but I was still able to rent apts because I always made the payments. why would a landlord rent to you when your credit report shows you do not like to pay money that you owe. I'm sorry if you can't pay the bills due to unemployment but you can't rent if you have no income.
LILL
Because it gives the landlord a sense of your reliability and your history of paying off debts in a timely manor. You lost your job once and defaulted on your debts, so what's to say you won't do the same thing again.