Renting an apartment can be hard when you have bad credit but when there are ways to get around your awful credit history, it’s not a hard process at all.  By now, I’m sure familar with the concept of a landlord checking your credit in order to get a place to stay.  Since a place to stay is crucial to living life, I’ll show you how you can get your landlord to overlook your credit.

Warn him/her ahead of time – When you apply for your apartment or place to stay, tell your landlord why your credit is going to be bad.  Is it because of a foreclosure, a loss of job, etc?  Make sure you explain in detail on why your credit is bad and what you’re doing to fix it.  The key here is to tell them what you’re doing now and how you’re improving your score.

Give numbers – Everyone loves a good reference.  So, let the landlord know of a few friends or relatives that can give a good word for you.  If they decide they want to call, let your friends and family know that you’re putting their names down so that they can expect the call.  If they hear great things about you, this will increase your chances of getting the place.

Show the money – If your credit stinks, let the money talk.  Try and save up at least three to six months worth of rent and hand that over to the landlord. 90% of the time, you’ll get approved for a small rental agreement somewhere along the lines of three to six months.  If you have the money, use it.  If not, start saving because this will be the best route to take.

Show responsibility – When you’re getting ready to apply for that apartment, try and make sure that you show some responsibility.  If you’ve had 10 jobs in the past 4 months, these are going to be huge red flags.  Apartments want to see consistency.  They want someone who has worked a job for a few years straight.  If you’ve fallen victim to not holding a job, you should work on things like this.

In the end, just because you have bad credit, it doesn’t mean you’re not going to get approved for an apartment.  Make sure you try a few places because they all are going to vary.  You’ll usually have better odds with a smaller complex than you would have with a bigger corporation type place.  As long as you work on your credit and show some responsibility, you won’t have trouble getting an apartment at all.