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First of all, it's typically not just a "credit check fee" it's an "application fee". There are usually many parts to processing an application in the apartment industry. You have a credit check, income and employment verification, criminal background checks and rental and mortgage history checks. So a $25-$50 application fee will go to cover the costs of all of these things.
Secondly, as far as showing the person a copy of the credit report, that is not something most landlords are able to do. Most large companies don't pull the report directly from the credit reporting company, they go through a rental screening company. I'm not sure of the exact laws or reasons behind it, but I know with every rental screening company I ever used, everyone who pulled credit reports in the office had to sign something agreeing they wouldn't show the credit report to the applicant. So it's a very common practice in the industry that you can't see a copy of the report.
Finally, many large management companies use third party tenant screening companies as I mentioned above to process their applicants. The leasing staff will submit the information to the company and the company will process the application and then give the community an acceptance or denial. The community never sees any information and doesn't know what is pulled. All they have is an apporval or denial.
So perhaps instead of thinking the greedy rental industry is out to get you and everyone else who is renting, maybe think that there are lots of factors that go into running a community and processing applicants than you know about. While yes, landlords to want to make a dollar or two and there are some exuberant fees out there, there are also legitimate fees and this happens to be one of them.
And back to the point I made in my response to my other posts to you....it's the landlord's property to do whatever they want with. They can screen their tenants however they'd like and they can charge whatever fees they'd like. If you don't like it, you don't have to live there. Most renters are grateful that they have a place to live and will be happy to do whatever that property owner requests. They respect the fact that someone has been generous to share THEIR property with them. The awful, disrespectful tenants you mention aren't that way because they have to pay fees, they're that way because they have NO respect for other people's property and opinions. Landlords don't make bad tenants, disrespectful people make bad tenants.
Whoa, I wouldn't sign up for a third-party decision unless I knew the precise selection criteria. That's just nuts.
In a truly free market, renters would have many more options, and would no longer feel the need to be 'grateful'.
" Most renters are grateful that they have a place to live and will be happy to do whatever that property owner requests. They respect the fact that someone has been generous to share THEIR property with them."
Renters simply want to pay what is required for them to have a place to live, not worship you like some kind of monarch.
Generous? Share? Are you mentally ill? It's a business... The landlord owns property to rent to get money as part of how they make their living AND maintain their investments, if they're in it for the sharing they should open up a commune. I never IN MY LIFE heard such a ridiculous statement from any landlord save the ones that have for rent signs STILL out there weathered and growing cobwebs.
The landlord we have told us thus; "This is now just like it's YOUR house, take good care of it." They rented to us on the spot because we took the time to have our credit report, proof of income, etc...all set. They attached a STANDARD fee for the criminal background check(s) to their security fee. This was common amongst all the places we looked at.
If the landlord sounded like a Nazi dictator WE didn't want their place. Period. We're not gonna give anyone money every month to license them to make our lives miserable!
Last edited by Ultrarunner; 01-05-2016 at 12:29 PM..
...... I usually buy new cars and I have yet to be charged for a credit check. ......... They informed me there had been no inquiries for more than a year...... tell the manager/agent that you want a copy of your credit report..............
You do pay for a credit report when you buy a new car, unless you are paying 100% cash. You don't get a car loan without a credit report and that credit report is included in loan origination or dealer preparation fees or paperwork fees.
Application fees cover more than a credit report, and maybe that management company found another reason that they didn't want you, before they ran the credit report. Maybe they read your notes on C-D and realized that you would be a difficult tenant.
Unless you live in California, the credit report companies do not allow landlords to give copies of the credit report to tenants. If the tenant is rejected for something on the credit report, the landlord is required by federal law to give the applicant a letter that enables the applicant to receive a free copy of their credit report directly from the report company. The landlord does not hand their copy of the credit report to the rejected applicant.
First of all, it's typically not just a "credit check fee" it's an "application fee". There are usually many parts to processing an application in the apartment industry. You have a credit check, income and employment verification, criminal background checks and rental and mortgage history checks. So a $25-$50 application fee will go to cover the costs of all of these things.
Secondly, as far as showing the person a copy of the credit report, that is not something most landlords are able to do. Most large companies don't pull the report directly from the credit reporting company, they go through a rental screening company. I'm not sure of the exact laws or reasons behind it, but I know with every rental screening company I ever used, everyone who pulled credit reports in the office had to sign something agreeing they wouldn't show the credit report to the applicant. So it's a very common practice in the industry that you can't see a copy of the report.
Finally, many large management companies use third party tenant screening companies as I mentioned above to process their applicants. The leasing staff will submit the information to the company and the company will process the application and then give the community an acceptance or denial. The community never sees any information and doesn't know what is pulled. All they have is an apporval or denial.
So perhaps instead of thinking the greedy rental industry is out to get you and everyone else who is renting, maybe think that there are lots of factors that go into running a community and processing applicants than you know about. While yes, landlords to want to make a dollar or two and there are some exuberant fees out there, there are also legitimate fees and this happens to be one of them.
And back to the point I made in my response to my other posts to you....it's the landlord's property to do whatever they want with. They can screen their tenants however they'd like and they can charge whatever fees they'd like. If you don't like it, you don't have to live there. Most renters are grateful that they have a place to live and will be happy to do whatever that property owner requests. They respect the fact that someone has been generous to share THEIR property with them. The awful, disrespectful tenants you mention aren't that way because they have to pay fees, they're that way because they have NO respect for other people's property and opinions. Landlords don't make bad tenants, disrespectful people make bad tenants.
You do pay for a credit report when you buy a new car, unless you are paying 100% cash. You don't get a car loan without a credit report and that credit report is included in loan origination or dealer preparation fees or paperwork fees.
Application fees cover more than a credit report, and maybe that management company found another reason that they didn't want you, before they ran the credit report. Maybe they read your notes on C-D and realized that you would be a difficult tenant.
Unless you live in California, the credit report companies do not allow landlords to give copies of the credit report to tenants. If the tenant is rejected for something on the credit report, the landlord is required by federal law to give the applicant a letter that enables the applicant to receive a free copy of their credit report directly from the report company. The landlord does not hand their copy of the credit report to the rejected applicant.
What's up with that? When I applied for a mortgage pre-approval, the lender gave me three credit reports, unsolicited.
If a credit check ran by an apartment place comes back as unapproved... should I be getting a refund for the credit check fee? I never lived at this place.
If a credit check ran by an apartment place comes back as unapproved... should I be getting a refund for the credit check fee? I never lived at this place.
If a credit check ran by an apartment place comes back as unapproved... should I be getting a refund for the credit check fee? I never lived at this place.
No...Approved or denied, it still costs management the same amount of money to run the check.
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wow seriously?
