Bad credit. Need to rent REALLY BADLY. What can i...

[Renee_]

Me and my partner both have bad credit.

We desperately need to rent a place. Really urgently. Is there ANYTHING at all we can do to improve our credit WHILST paying off the debts.

Our debts don't amount to too much, around 3k together. But we need to move away asap and can only clear the 3k in around 4-5 months.

Do many landlords really accept double deposit as insurance? Would i sound stupid if i phoned an estate agents to ask this? Has anyone done this?

Renee xxx

[SuzySu]

I will wait with interest for the replies to this Renee as I'm sure our credit is shot to pieces too (and we have a fair amount of debt) and we will be looking to rent as soon as our house is sold.

Good luck to you.

[msmicawber]

I managed to pass landlord's credit checks all the time I owed money on my credit cards, so think that provided you're paying regularly towards your debts it doesn't matter too much. However, I've never had CCJs and don't know whether that made a difference.

[mogimorgan]

I was in the same situation - now I have a rented property.

What we did is that we went to the local paper and found a private landlord advertising there property for rent. Most of them will check refferences - but won't bother with a credit check as this will cost them. And if they need a tenant then most will try to get anyone they can.

If you can find the right landlord - with the right house - you will find somewere.

Any respectable estate agent will perform a credit search - unless you know someone who works as one and willing to do something on the side for you lol.

Hope this helps.

[moneysavinmonkey]

Originally Posted by Renee_

Me and my partner both have bad credit.

We desperately need to rent a place. Really urgently. Is there ANYTHING at all we can do to improve our credit WHILST paying off the debts.

Our debts don't amount to too much, around 3k together. But we need to move away asap and can only clear the 3k in around 4-5 months.

Do many landlords really accept double deposit as insurance? Would i sound stupid if i phoned an estate agents to ask this? Has anyone done this?

Renee xxx

are you paying off your debts regularly - ie making the required payments on time every month - if you haven't missed any payments or paid late then there is no reason for you to have a bad credit record. Check out your credit report - see here

It is possible to rent even if you have bad credit - different agencies have different checking criteria + private landlords tend not to check at all as long as they have proof of salary. You can also get round a bad credit check if you offer a gurantor- or if you don't have anyone willing to do this you can offer to pay say 3 or 6 months rent upfront.

[SuzySu]

Good idea Mogimorgan. Can we negotiate on rent as we would on a house price?

[ruggedtoast]

You can make an offer on rent same as everything else. If you dont pass the credit check you can offer to pay 6 months rent in advance. Its a stretch but if its the only way.

[mogimorgan]

Originally Posted by ruggedtoast

You can make an offer on rent same as everything else. If you dont pass the credit check you can offer to pay 6 months rent in advance. Its a stretch but if its the only way.

I wouldn't advise this as what if the landlord house was repossesed in the first 2 months? You would lose 4 months rent. And really how realistic is it that someone could afford this in the first place.

I would get the local free paper - look through it - ring a few but don't mention your bad credit. As long as you are working, and can afford the rent, you should find someone or somewere that is willing to rent to you.

Also, you could put your name down on the Coucil/Housing assisation waiting list too. However, I don't beleive you would be very high on the list and could take a while.

Good look!

[ruggedtoast]

We paid 6 months in advance. Had to, we'd just come back from 3 years abroad and had no jobs.

We had to pay a monster deposit as well, but we didnt get repossessed.

Im not saying its desirable Im just saying its possible.

[SuzySu]

As stated on previous posts, we will struggle even to acheive one month's rent up front so 6 months is just impossible. If we had that sort of money to hand I would not be needing to sell in the first place.

[Fred1]

As a private landlord, I have rented to someone with a bad credit reference. She was able to supply a guarrantor who has a good credit reference. I would certainly recommend staying away from agents, they probably won't touch you with a bargepole and will charge you an extortionate fee to do the check. A credit check and refernce check gan be done for about £35 so if you're charged more than £50 in "admin fees" you're probably being ripped off.

Get in touch with your council and see if they have a bond guarrantee scheme, that will save you having to find a deposit , if your new landlord accepts their scheme. Also ask if they have a list of accredited landlords, they may even have a list of accredited landlords with vacancies, depends on the council.

[moneysavinmonkey]

Originally Posted by SuzySu

As stated on previous posts, we will struggle even to acheive one month's rent up front so 6 months is just impossible. If we had that sort of money to hand I would not be needing to sell in the first place.

Haven't read your other posts, but you are going to need more than one months rent upfront. Even if you go with a private landlord so no admin/credit fees you will need a deposit of at least 1 month - more commonly 11/2 months in my experience - + your 1st months rent in advance.

Hopefully your council has a bond scheme as mentioned by Fred1. Otherwise you need to flog some stuff/do some fast moneysaving to cobble together a bit more cash.

[Renee_]

Thanks for your replies everyone. It's made me feel a bit more positive and me and my partner will make some enquiries with private landlords!

Good luck to all

xxxxxxxxxx

[Benefits Blagger]

Originally Posted by mogimorgan

I was in the same situation - now I have a rented property.

What we did is that we went to the local paper and found a private landlord advertising there property for rent. Most of them will check refferences - but won't bother with a credit check as this will cost them. And if they need a tenant then most will try to get anyone they can.

If you can find the right landlord - with the right house - you will find somewere.

Any respectable estate agent will perform a credit search - unless you know someone who works as one and willing to do something on the side for you lol.

Hope this helps.

whats the difference between a credit check and a credit reference ?

I'm going to be in this position soon, I can quite comfortably pay 6 months up front, but my worry is repossesion. does anyone know if maybe i could negotiate to pay say 3 months upfront, with the other 3 going in the deposit. so if worse came to the worse I could claim my money back from that, likewise the LL would have recourse if I failed to pay the rent.

[janegresty]

We have been in the same situation as you! Infact we are moving this weekend to our 2nd property with very bad credit. May not help... but hopefully will.

The first LL does credit checks. But was willing to accept us if we could provide a Gaurantor.. so MIL agreed. Just means if you don't pay your rent your Gaurantor foots the bill.

We have same problem finding this property we are moving to. But were lucky and found a private LL advertising on Gumtree... which means no credit checks or admin fees. Just wanted wage slips, references etc etc.

Good luck!

[janegresty]

Also just thought I'd mention its worth finding out if in you area they do the "rent deposit scheme" as some LL's will accept this and it means you do not have to pay your deposit.

We were lucky, our old LL left us in a house with damp and mould and did nothing. We started looking to move 2 weeks ago... and found a house within 1 week. We couldn't afford the deposit and she didnt accept the rent deposit scheme... but was nice enought to accept extra money on top of rent for the next 3 months until deposit is covered.

So there def are nice LL's out there!

[Fred1]

Originally Posted by Benefits Blagger

whats the difference between a credit check and a credit reference ?

I'm going to be in this position soon, I can quite comfortably pay 6 months up front, but my worry is repossesion. does anyone know if maybe i could negotiate to pay say 3 months upfront, with the other 3 going in the deposit. so if worse came to the worse I could claim my money back from that, likewise the LL would have recourse if I failed to pay the rent.

Although I wouldn't recommend anyone part with 6 month's rent in advance, unless you get a BIG discount for doing so, I doubt repossession should be anything to worry about. If you have an AST, as long as you don't breach the terms of the agreement, you cannot be evicted during the term of the contract. ASTs are 6 months minimum. So the worst that can happen if the house is repossessed is that the mortgage company can give you a notice requiring possession, dated for the end of the AST or 2 month's in the future, whichever is the longer. Check that with a solicitor though, but I'd bet a tenner I'm right (and gambling is the one vice I don;t have )

[Benefits Blagger]

Originally Posted by Fred1

Although I wouldn't recommend anyone part with 6 month's rent in advance, unless you get a BIG discount for doing so, I doubt repossession should be anything to worry about. If you have an AST, as long as you don't breach the terms of the agreement, you cannot be evicted during the term of the contract. ASTs are 6 months minimum. So the worst that can happen if the house is repossessed is that the mortgage company can give you a notice requiring possession, dated for the end of the AST or 2 month's in the future, whichever is the longer. Check that with a solicitor though, but I'd bet a tenner I'm right (and gambling is the one vice I don;t have )

my big worry is renting off someone who is using OO mortgage instead of a BTL mortgage, from reading this board it seems like the AST is worth sweet FA if you get repossed in that scenario.

[Fred1]

Originally Posted by Benefits Blagger

my big worry is renting off someone who is using OO mortgage instead of a BTL mortgage, from reading this board it seems like the AST is worth sweet FA if you get repossed in that scenario.

I hadn't thought of that :O

[jak]

Look in the small ads rather than the letting agencies. You prob. won't have a credit check.