Sold house to clear debt - rental check help

K4919

Good morning,

Ill try to keep things short but would appreciate any advice any of you could share from experience please

I earn 34k, have outstanding debts of 24k. My partner is self employed but all debts have always been in my name.

Luckily my house has sky rocketed in value and has sold last week with an astonishing 48k equity. I cant afford to pass up the opportunity to clear our debts and move into rental property.

Here lies the problem - the obvious one some could say - my partner has barely any credit score. Mine is very poor on equifax. We have a six month old and three months now to find secure and move into a rental property.

I know i will fail a credit check. Obviously until the house has cleared i cant clear the debt and need to be moved before this point or were homeless.

Can anyone advise on getting a rental with such high debt and low credit score?

Any help appreciated

Helvetica_Van_Buren

A credit check for rental purposes is generally not as in-depth as one for 'normal' borrowing applications such as credit cards, loans and definitely not as involved as a mortgage application.

How about offering to pay 3 or 6 months' rent up front? Not only is this likely to bag the property you want but it'll also enable you a favourable reference for future renting, should one be needed.

K4919

Thank you for the response,

I did consider this option given it would probably leave the landlord feeling more secure about letting us have the property however i need to move prior to the house completing which is when i will get the money from the sale.

We literally at the moment are scrapping together a deposit and first months rent plus money for fees.

I would only be able to pay the upfront rent after we had actually moved in - this is where i can see a landlord saying no as they would have no garantees id actually pay and we would already be in the property

A guarantor unfortunately isnt an option either as both sets of parents refuse too do this for one reason or another

Is it worth speaking to estate agents prior to applying?

Thank you

sourcrates

Hi,

This gets asked a lot on the forum.

Potential landlords only see the "public information" section of your credit file, they do not see any of your financial information.

Even people with Bankrupcy and IVA 's are still able to rent, so I would not worry too much about failing a credit check.

K4919

Thank you,

I can get supporting letters from work etc and have never missed a payment so far so hopefully we will be ok x

HappyMJ

K4919 wrote: »

Thank you,

I can get supporting letters from work etc and have never missed a payment so far so hopefully we will be ok x

It doesn't matter if you have missed loads of payments or have defaulted on your credit agreements. That information is not available to landlords and letting agents.

You need to have no unsettled CCJ's especially ones for rent arrears to be able to rent. You can still rent with unsettled CCJ's but it just makes it harder.

Autumnella

Maybe you could look for a private rental direct from the landlord? I'm too stingy to pay admin and agency fees so always do it this way. Search in your local paper or on gumtree.

tlc678910

Hi,
I hope the credit check and references will be enough for you to get your rental but if you were struggling to secure it perhaps you could ask your solicitor (dealing with your house sale) to confirm with the agents that you will receive equity from the sale and that the solicitor will transfer 3 or 6 months rent in advance to the agent when the sale money is received.
Tlc

K4919

Thank you for the advice!

I hadnt considered asking the solicitors to provide something such as that but thats a great idea. Even if simply to back up that the property will be cleared with such equity etc. Thank you very much for that

I have been looking at private rentals in our area unfortunately they are all properties that do not allow our dog or are either one bedroom flats. But i am keeping by eye out.

The fees are so expensive given if i understand correctly it only cost them somewhere in the region of £6 to credit check. Fees here are coming on around 400 in total.

Ill definitely speak to my solicitor and my work also to provide me with such paperwork even if just to put my case across hopefully it would show a landlord im serious