Tips for Getting an Apartment with Low or No Credit

Do You Need to Have Good Credit to Rent an Apartment?

Depending on where you live or the kind of apartment you’re trying to rent, you may not need to have good credit to have your rental application approved, but it certainly wouldn’t hurt.

Check your state, county, and municipal laws: It might be within your rights to deny a credit pull or there may be rules around how much or which pieces of your credit history can be considered with your rental application.

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Why Does Apartment Rental Require a Credit Check?

For better or worse, credit reports and scores have become synonymous with financial health and worthiness. Pulling a rental applicant’s credit report can be a fast way to get a summary of their financial situation, but if an applicant is new to credit or doesn’t have a strong history, credit checks aren’t the best way for landlords to understand applicants’ financial story or their ability to pay their rent month after month.

There are often other opportunities to prove income and ability to pay on a rental application, but if you know you have low or no credit, you might need to come to the table with more financial savvy.

Tips for Renting an Apartment with Low or No Credit

It’s not impossible to secure an apartment with low or no credit, but it will take some extra work on your part.

Shop Mom & Pop

Independent landlords can often be more flexible than large apartment rental and management companies. Even independent landlords who own several rental units have more latitude to make decisions about cost, application requirements, and lease types. Check local papers or walk around neighborhoods you love to look for Mom and Pop landlords’ listings.

Show proof of income

A credit check that shows low or no credit isn’t exactly indicative of low or no income. You’ll likely have to provide proof of income on your rental application, so provide more than you need. Consider these ideas:

• Collect more than the requested number of payroll checks, especially if you earn an hourly or tipped rate that fluctuates check to check.
• Other income counts. If you receive cash aid, alimony, child support, or have a small side business that brings in some extra money, total these up and present them too.
• If you have a strong history of working for the same company or in the same field with steady income—or income growth year over year—consider including relevant portions of tax returns that prove this out.
• Have savings? Include that on your rental application. Even if your nest egg isn’t liquid (like an easy-to-access savings account) or necessarily intended to be used to pay rent (like retirement funds or prepaid college savings funds), it will show your ability to budget, save, and potentially move money around if you have a loss of income.

Prepare to pay more upfront

Depending on where you live, it might be common for renters to pay the first and last months’ rent upfront—with or without a security deposit or move-in fee (sometimes both). If this is the expectation stated on your rental application, consider offering even more upfront if you can afford to.

If this isn’t a standard practice where you live or with the landlord or company with which you’re applying to rent, and you can afford it, offer to put more money down upfront.

Offer to go month-to-month

If your proof of income hasn’t inspired enough confidence, offer to sign a month-to-month lease. A month-to-month lease can ease a landlord or rental company into the idea of you as a responsible renter while they retain a legal exit plan that won’t cost them as much time or money as an eviction.

Eviction of a nonpaying tenant takes a long time to process, is expensive, and the nonpaying tenant can legally remain in the rental unit until the removal is final. On top of this, an unrented unit is a unit that’s not making any money, of course.

Get references

Go beyond the minimum application expectation of providing phone numbers of previous landlords or rental companies—get reference letters, if you can. Letters can be especially helpful if you’ve never rented before. In this case, instead of collecting letters from your former landlords or building managers, collect reference letters from managers, coworkers, or academic advisors that speak to your work ethic or conscientiousness.

Be honest

Low or no credit can be the result of a number of common life events, whether they’re beyond your control or not:

• New to credit. Without having had enough credit-reporting accounts, your credit won’t look so great. Everyone has to start somewhere. Be direct if you’re new to renting and credit.
• Student loan debt. Student loans will likely be the lion’s share of your credit report when you’re just starting out. Even if you’re paying on time, if you have several loans and not many (or any) other lines of credit, this will throw off your debt-to-credit ratio.
• Identity theft. Whether you’ve been phished or had a family member create an account using your name, identity theft can really mess up your credit. If you’ve been the victim of identity theft—especially if you’re still in the process of correcting the impact—point this out.
• Divorce. From a financial standpoint, divorce upends income, debt, and assets. The outcome could be a credit ding if you can no longer afford your day-to-day life as you once could.
• Bankruptcy. People choose to declare bankruptcy for many reasons, almost never lightly, and with a hefty helping of stigma. It’s going to show up on your credit check, so have a conversation about why the bankruptcy happened and your financial health now.

Being honest and upfront about the reason for a nonideal credit check will likely go farther with an independent landlord than a corporate apartment management company, but honesty is still the best policy. If you know your credit report will give pause to whoever checks it, give them a heads up and explain your situation.

Find a cosigner

This option isn’t for everyone—and isn’t practical for everyone—but cosigners can help boost confidence in the rental application of someone whose credit check comes back less than ideal. Unfortunately, chances are that anyone who is joining you on your renting journey is already a co-applicant—so who’s left to cosign? Think about who in your life might be willing to back you, but be honest with yourself and with them if you choose to ask: This is a risk, and are you comfortable with that?

Finding safe, affordable housing is important for everyone. Creditworthiness isn’t the only measure by which you can prove to potential landlords that you will be a responsible tenant. Take the time to put together a complete picture of your finances and chances are that you’ll secure that rental even with low or no credit.