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Aside from the pet issue. We always disclose this prior to even viewing an apartment if it isn't mentioned in the listing.+
ETA: Let's just assume that there are no pets involved to make this easier. This has less to do with the pets and more to do with recent credit issue.
Quote:
Originally Posted by cottercutie
I am aware the pets make finding a rental home harder. Our cats are 14 and 8, we have had them since kittens, the dog is 4-5, we've had her for a while now (she's adopted LOL). The market we are considering has a good amount of homes in our price range that state they are pet friendly. If a listing states they don't want pets (or only cats, or dogs, or limit on size etc)then we obviously don't bother that landlord. If a listing doesn't state a policy and we are interested, this is something we have always asked as our first question. We aren't big time wasters. I'm not asking about the pet issue, we know that is a stumbling block, we've dealt with it for over 14 years now .
I'm asking the question because of the VERY recent credit issues for my husband. Recent as in it's June, he has a couple of LATE payments from April to now that he is working on bringing current. We had just ordered his credit reports in January and they're sparkling clean on it. I'm asking BECAUSE it is so recent, and because it did tank his scores quite a bit. And the few affected accounts are being worked to be brought current as I stated before, and it's one we hope to have resolved prior to moving, but the lates will likely remain on his credit report. It's also been where all of our extra money has been going (as opposed to savings). My bills are all current, like I said, it's just low limit cards with balances and the bankruptcy is the biggest factor dragging my score down.
It is also likely he will be going down before me and will stay with family or in an extended stay type motel or even a short term rental to find us a rental in a nice area so that we can sign a long term lease.
For the record, this is the first time my husband has EVER had an issue not having a job. EVER. Since he was 16 and got his working papers. He was working two jobs but his current job/career haven't allowed him the luxury of that anymore, since he is on call 24/7. The job he was partially laid off from recruited him for a YEAR from his prior firm where he was for 2 years. We don't have new cars and don't have anything to really sell worth anything monetarily. Stating that I "don't look for a job" is presumptuous. I've worked since I was 12 and this is the FIRST TIME EVER I've not been able to find a job, not even at Target or a supermarket. And I still am looking for work.
We actually ARE responsible. We have always budgeted our rent based on 1/3 of the lowest of our salaries, so that if one of us were laid off or had something happen we would be able to afford to at least pay the rent and the basics like heat, electric, food, insurance. And we don't pay our rent with credit cards.. I don't even know how you'd do that? We have never been late on our rent and have been in this place close to 3 years, our prior rental was 5 years. Also, our current rent is higher than we would be paying in the new market, at the same salary my husband is making here (prior to the pay cut)
Some days I think we should have just been irresponsible and bought a house we couldn't afford like so many other people did back when we had the chance.
So, basically, what I'm looking for is that if you're a landlord (and for the hypothetical, let's assume you are pet friendly and willing to take them etc) would the few recent late payments be a big issue to you? (Because that is what we have, some lates, not collections etc)
Quote:
Originally Posted by cottercutie
Scratching my head... what does another year of on time rental payments have to do with it? What is that going to do for us? We have a positive rental history already. We have never been late with our rent or been evicted, and we already have a decade of rental payments, including our current rental.
We have a couple of recent late payments on DH's credit cards. No collections, no evictions, no late payments on rent or loans....... we have maintained our renter's insurance, vehicle insurance, ADT monitoring (as required in our lease).....
We also have the luxury of time if necessary as DH can go down ahead of us.
None of this changes my answer to you.
And the fact that it's recent, makes it worse. If this was 4 years ago, and there are no current problems, I'd be way more likely to rent to you.
But your CURRENT situation, is that you aren't paying your bills, your husband's hours got cut, and you are moving for a brand new job that may or may not work out.
Why would I think this was good? I don't care how great you were last year. You're looking to rent from me now. And right now, you are a risk.
And who takes risky tenants? People who 1) want to collect higher rents, because only desperate people will pay the higher rents; or 2) someone who can't find anyone better than you to rent their unit in the condition and/or neighborhood it's in.
You can throw all the "it's not fair" tantrums you want. But, you asked managers and landlords how we would view you NOW with your current situation, and your newly and currently tanked credit score, because you are currently not paying your bills. And you got your answers. Honest answers with no intention of just being mean or unfair to you.
Saying I "used to" have a good credit score, doesn't mean diddly. Come on, you're smarter than that.
A manager or landlord who is experienced, will see the positives you have pointed out. But, they will also be weighing the negatives against them.
And, BTW, if you told me you had a 14 year old cat, all I'd be thinking about was incontinence and the damage it will create.
And the fact that it's recent, makes it worse. If this was 4 years ago, and there are no current problems, I'd be way more likely to rent to you.
But your CURRENT situation, is that you aren't paying your bills, your husband's hours got cut, and you are moving for a brand new job that may or may not work out.
Why would I think this was good? I don't care how great you were last year. You're looking to rent from me now. And right now, you are a risk.
And who takes risky tenants? People who 1) want to collect higher rents, because only desperate people will pay the higher rents; or 2) someone who can't find anyone better than you to rent their unit in the condition and/or neighborhood it's in.
You can throw all the "it's not fair" tantrums you want. But, you asked managers and landlords how we would view you NOW with your current situation, and your newly and currently tanked credit score, because you are currently not paying your bills. And you got your answers. Honest answers with no intention of just being mean or unfair to you.
Saying I "used to" have a good credit score, doesn't mean diddly. Come on, you're smarter than that.
A manager or landlord who is experienced, will see the positives you have pointed out. But, they will also be weighing the negatives against them.
And, BTW, if you told me you had a 14 year old cat, all I'd be thinking about was incontinence and the damage it will create.
Upsetting, I know. But this is the best advice you're going to get. Lower your expectations and consider using CraigsList to find something.
BTW, I just want to let you know that I completely understand things happening that ruin your credit. I just filed a Chapter 7 myself. I became disabled 6 years ago, and couldn't pay the bills. Talked to a bankruptcy attorney, and she said, just let them go, and the creditors will write them off. Cheaper, and the bad debt will be off the credit report in 7 years, as opposed to a bankruptcy, which would be on the report for 10 years, plus I could save what little savings I had by not spending it filing for bankruptcy.
Well, some bad-debt buyers bought the old bad debt and got judgments. And the judgments can be renewed every 10 years in CA. Only option, file Chapter 7.
I tell you this because I know this will limit my ability as a renter now. The good news is, that subsidized low-income housing will take me with bad credit. But, it will take time before any private landlords would consider renting to me. This limits my options. It just is what it is.
When credit tanks, there are consequences. It's not like they can't ever be overcome, but it will take time. And in the meantime your, and my, renting options will be limited.
I hope the job offer your husband has on the table that includes housing turns out to be great for you. That may be a perfect solution.
You can throw all the "it's not fair" tantrums you want.
And, BTW, if you told me you had a 14 year old cat, all I'd be thinking about was incontinence and the damage it will create.
And where exactly would these "tantrums" be on the thread?
As far as 14 year old incontinent pets, I've had many teenaged cats and dogs (and even a cat who lived to be 24) with nary a sign of incontinence. The OP already knows the drawbacks of finding a rental which accepts pets and has made that very clear. The OP is quietly asking reasonable questions and doesn't warrant a snitty lecture.
My expectations aren't actually high at all. There is focus on the animals and we already know that is a stumbling block.
The issue is the recent lates (not collections, not judgments, lates). They are being paid on, they are just late, not unpaid. It's frustrating. But I get a little annoyed when assumptions are made about other things I haven't discussed.
And yes, I get even more annoyed when I see so many of my friends/coworkers/associates get foreclosed on or are in process of foreclosure or are getting refinanced through some special programs because they 'were scammed' and go along their merry way with little to no consequence to their credit. And people rent to them because of the housing bubble and foreclosures etc. But it appears couple lates will seemingly damn us.
Ultimately, we'd like to be together as a family as soon as we can. There are options for my husband to go down ahead and I can stay with my mother in law while he finds a rental for us, but we'd like to make that option shorter than longer. This is why I am asking. I have kids I want to get into school so I don't have to disrupt them etc.
Would it be better after he is already down there working for a month, 2, 3 etc. Would a cosigner help, or a larger deposit etc.
I mentioned the letter we wrote on our agent's advice because that is what won us this rental. We were up front about my bankruptcy, about the animals etc and told a little about who we were. There were other contenders who had better credit but our landlord flat out told us he chose us because of the honesty in the letter. He had a ton of applicants to choose from.
BTW, you'll find in time that you will wish you had filed 5-6 years ago when you first started falling behind. That's about how long it took for me to file and I wish every day that I had filed when I realized it was that bad and that creditors really don't try to work with you etc. Mine wasn't disability related, but identity theft. Someone used my identity when I was a minor to open up a bunch of utility and credit card accounts and then defaulted. Even though I was a minor and could prove I lived with my parents 4 towns away, one of the utility accounts kept popping up every few years when they were sold it off to new junk debt buyers. I cleaned it off my credit 4 or 5 times over the years before, the account charged off when I was 16. The last time happened at the same time Chase had done an account review on my credit report and they kicked in universal default (now illegal btw) bringing my APRs from 1.9to 32.99% and cutting my credit limit to the balance so that when they added the interest fees from the new APR, it caused the card to go over limit, and the fees just skyrocketed making the minimum payment go from about $15 to a number in the mid hundreds. Phone calls to try to work with the card companies didn't work. Even getting the collection account removed didn't help. This happened almost across the board like dominoes because of 1 erroneous collection account and turned what was less than 8k of credit card debt into over $60k at my Ch 7 discharge. So, yea, now I have a bankruptcy but nothing else on my credit report reflecting any type of bad credit any more. Those are over a decade old now, so long gone from there. I'd be 8 years out at least if I'd just filed when I should have.
And where exactly would these "tantrums" be on the thread?
As far as 14 year old incontinent pets, I've had many teenaged cats and dogs (and even a cat who lived to be 24) with nary a sign of incontinence. The OP already knows the drawbacks of finding a rental which accepts pets and has made that very clear. The OP is quietly asking reasonable questions and doesn't warrant a snitty lecture.
My kids are more incontinent than my pets. And more destructive. My animals have never broken things like my kids have. I used to have really nice things. Then I had kids.
There were other contenders who had better credit but our landlord flat out told us he chose us because of the honesty in the letter. He had a ton of applicants to choose from.
In my landlording days I followed my nose for the most part and fortunately my nose must have been not too blocked as I only ever had two "incidents" with tenants and they were resolved very quickly with the minimum fuss. I always appreciated honesty from prospective tenants.
There are plenty of decent landlords out there who'll rent to you so don't let the perpetual naysayers ruffle you. The right place will come along!
My expectations aren't actually high at all. There is focus on the animals and we already know that is a stumbling block.
The issue is the recent lates (not collections, not judgments, lates). They are being paid on, they are just late, not unpaid. It's frustrating. But I get a little annoyed when assumptions are made about other things I haven't discussed.
And yes, I get even more annoyed when I see so many of my friends/coworkers/associates get foreclosed on or are in process of foreclosure or are getting refinanced through some special programs because they 'were scammed' and go along their merry way with little to no consequence to their credit. And people rent to them because of the housing bubble and foreclosures etc. But it appears couple lates will seemingly damn us.
Ultimately, we'd like to be together as a family as soon as we can. There are options for my husband to go down ahead and I can stay with my mother in law while he finds a rental for us, but we'd like to make that option shorter than longer. This is why I am asking. I have kids I want to get into school so I don't have to disrupt them etc.
Would it be better after he is already down there working for a month, 2, 3 etc. Would a cosigner help, or a larger deposit etc.
I mentioned the letter we wrote on our agent's advice because that is what won us this rental. We were up front about my bankruptcy, about the animals etc and told a little about who we were. There were other contenders who had better credit but our landlord flat out told us he chose us because of the honesty in the letter. He had a ton of applicants to choose from.
BTW, you'll find in time that you will wish you had filed 5-6 years ago when you first started falling behind. That's about how long it took for me to file and I wish every day that I had filed when I realized it was that bad and that creditors really don't try to work with you etc. Mine wasn't disability related, but identity theft. Someone used my identity when I was a minor to open up a bunch of utility and credit card accounts and then defaulted. Even though I was a minor and could prove I lived with my parents 4 towns away, one of the utility accounts kept popping up every few years when they were sold it off to new junk debt buyers. I cleaned it off my credit 4 or 5 times over the years before, the account charged off when I was 16. The last time happened at the same time Chase had done an account review on my credit report and they kicked in universal default (now illegal btw) bringing my APRs from 1.9to 32.99% and cutting my credit limit to the balance so that when they added the interest fees from the new APR, it caused the card to go over limit, and the fees just skyrocketed making the minimum payment go from about $15 to a number in the mid hundreds. Phone calls to try to work with the card companies didn't work. Even getting the collection account removed didn't help. This happened almost across the board like dominoes because of 1 erroneous collection account and turned what was less than 8k of credit card debt into over $60k at my Ch 7 discharge. So, yea, now I have a bankruptcy but nothing else on my credit report reflecting any type of bad credit any more. Those are over a decade old now, so long gone from there. I'd be 8 years out at least if I'd just filed when I should have.
Oh, believe me, I wish I'd filed 6 years ago. The stupid thing is, I actually consulted a bankruptcy attorney and did what she said to do. Live and learn. Turns out, because I was on SSI, that I qualified for fee waivers for everything. Doing it myself cost me about $10 in postage sending the papers to Sacramento. That's it. Wish I'd looked into it 6 years ago, instead of trusting an attorney!
The thing about your letter is that, if I'm understanding your timeline right, your bankruptcy had been in the past already at least a year? And there were no income or steady job issues, and your husband's credit was great. I don't know how to get you to see that this is not the same situation at all.
What you are also not understanding, is that no landlord will make a decision on your particular situation without also including considering the fact that you have 3 pets. One of which is old enough to be getting sick and incontinent.
You're not listening.
We have to look at you on paper, along with all other applicants. Landlords consider the entire picture. If there is another family with the exact same situation as yours, and they're the only other contenders, but they don't have pets. They will get the rental.
You can't discount the pets. I don't get why you can't see that.
Think of landlords like computers if that helps. You put in data - credit score, job length/history, debt management, landlord references, pets.
When I say you're acting like someone throwing a tantrum, it's because you aren't listening. You just keep arguing your point of view about why it's not fair.
And as a manager, I wouldn't care about the stories about cats who live to be 100 who are never incontinent. I look at the risks just like an insurance company does. What are the odds a 14 year old cat (who will just keep getting older while you live there) will start having accidents? And the bottom line is my perception of that, as a manager. There is no law that says I can't have the opinion that your old cat might become incontinent. You asked what my thought processes would be, and that's one of them.
And your letter from your landlords would not sway me at all. That does not negate all of the factors that are negatives. It doesn't change your credit score or your current payment history or the fact that your husband's last job cut his hours and he's looking for a new job in a new city that he is not invested in. You've already shown you're okay with moving far away from your kids' schools. Sorry, the letter wouldn't change my mind on the risk of renting to you.
Ugh, and with that I give up. I honestly wish you well. And I hope you get the rental of your dreams and you prove us all wrong.
But, the title of your thread is "Would You Rent To Us." You asked, we answered.
Last edited by NoMoreSnowForMe; 06-22-2014 at 06:34 PM..
Can you tell me why? because its usually the other way around - cats are ok here but not dogs.
Just to share, and this has nothing to do with OP, it is because you cannot get rid of the smell of cat pee. I like cats. I've had cats as pets. But I have had to deal with many places that have been really, in a sense permanently, messed up by cat pee. Made to be unlivable. It gets into wood, walls, baseboards and you cannot get rid of the smell. I've had to use everything on the market and every home remedy; they don't work. So bottom line for me, there is no amount of deposit or rent that is worth it to allow cats in a rental. My opinion.
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