Trying to rent with prior eviction due to unforeseen circumstance (Toledo: apartment, foreclosures)

[Snoopy9816]

Hello and thank you for reading. Im in a situation where I have an eviction on my record due to unforseen circumstances. I have gone on craigslist to try to find a place. Everytime I speak with a landlord, I am upfront and honest about my situation because I do not want to waste anyones time. I have been told after paying a app fee that they cannot rent to me due to the eviction. It makes me upset because I tell them that in the beginning and I honestly feel as if they are just trying to take my money. I am looking for a home, I have an older son and a newborn. I am married and me and my husband both work. He makes 16.08 an hour and I make 12.97 an hour. I am just getting back on my feet after having a baby. I am looking to spend 600 a month at the most. I would like to find a place in a quieter area and somewhere that is safe to take my children home to. If anyone is willing to give me a second chance I would really appreciate it. Thanks for reading.

[OhioJB]

I'm not a landlord, just want to wish you good luck on the rental search. My sister recently rented an apartment in Oregon, Ohio and she doesn't have the greatest credit history. Unfortunately, I think the lower quality the rental is, the better chance you have of being approved.

In my case, when I moved back to Toledo I just didn't have credit built up because I pay with cash or a debit card. Always paid my rent on time, but when the landlord at this apartment building saw my credit report with no credit built up, he slid his hands down his face and said, "You put me in a very bad position". Then said he had a good feeling about me and rented the apartment to me. Of course, that was after requiring $30 for a credit report that probably cost him a third of that. I know there used to be websites that charged $7 and $11, but that was in the 90's. May have gone up in price, but $30? I don't think so. It's a scam and it should be outlawed to charge more than the credit report cost.

If you have cash on hand you could offer to may multiple months upfront. When I moved to Helena, Montana about a decade ago I didn't have a job yet so offered to pay four months upfront, plus the security deposit. He was more than willing. Some places require as much as a year upfront if you don't have a job yet, or if someone has a bad credit report. But again, the nicer the place is, the more demanding landlords are.

Good luck. Please post back when you find something. I'm curious how things work out for you and your family.

[residinghere2007]

I own some properties in Toledo, but they are filled up.

As a landlord, I will tell you that you may have better options with a private landlord versus a company. I will also suggest that you save up some money and offer a private land lord 4-6 months rent up front for a 12 month lease. That will give them some confidence that you aren't going to default on your lease.

I have rented to someone in a similar situation and those were the terms that I worked out with them. They paid 6 months up front and then the regular monthly rent after that for 6 months, after that, they didn't have to pay rent any more for th rest of the lease period and I gave them a good rental reference after they moved on.

I would also suggest looking into buying a home. Homes in Toledo are still pretty cheap and there are programs here to assist first time home buyers. As an investor, I have bought a couple homes from a website called homepath.com. They are government foreclosures. Many of the homes need work, some a lot of work, but some of them also include an option to put the renovation cost into the purchase price as a part of the mortgage. Many times, purchasing a home, if your credit is not too bad, is much cheaper than renting in regards to monthly cost. The home I live in now, I purchased off that website for $7000. It needed about $10K worth of work, but we did a lot of it ourselves to make it livable and we don't have a mortgage.