Seller Can't Find A Place To Rent Because Of Credit-help!
I am supposed to close this Friday on a house that goes to Auction June 8th. The owner has had 2 months to find an apt but keeps getting rejected because her 8 missed mortgage payments have destroyed her credit. Her divorce situation created the scenario of one income paying the mortgage.
She is now facing homelessness with 2 small children. I am trying to help her find an apt this week but not sure I can find a place that will be forgiving of the credit report. She does have a good employment history 10+ years with same employer.
I told her to look into section 8 although she thinks her salary is too high to qualify (however the issue is not the salary just the credit score).
Has anyone else dealt with a preforeclosure that couldn't find a place to rent because of their credit? She has no family locally to move in with. Any thoughts??
most landlords i would think would overlook credit if you are willing to put up 6 months deposit on an apartment. Now does she have the money to do this ? if she doesnt and its worth to you to get the house as soon as possible vacant then by all means lend her the money, but dont expect to get it back.
I just had this problem. Went to www.aprtments.com on the intenet and to the local classified in the paper. Found the apartments easier to deal with because they have regular business houses. I had already pulled the credit for the owner and knew how bad it was. When I called the apartments I told them upfront she was going through foreclosure and had crappy credit. Would she be accepted if she paid last months and maybe a double security deposit (apartments in this area have pretty low security deposits). Most said no, or we would have to see. One said yes right away. It was the apartment that did they application approvals inhouse. They did not send to an outside company for the thumbs up or thumbs down. In fact the person I was talking to personally approved or rejected the applications.
Brenda
I also want to see if the state has any emergency assistance for someone who is going to be homeless?
I made a bunch of calls today for apts, explained the credit issue up front. Basically they say no guarantees, they need run a credit check and look at income and run it through their qualifying software. Each place has a non refundable $50 application fee. It is fine to pay this but if she needs to keep paying the application fee to different places, they each run credit checks and continue to deny her, I am having a hard time getting anyone to verbally commit? They won't prequalify without submitting an app and puling a credit report. :-?
In our area, the passive step is to find "Room for rent" or "House to share" in many cases, these individuals will not request a credit check. Realistically, this approach may be a better fit and allow her to get the credit setback behind her. Encourage her to find a home renting two or more rooms (possible someone elderly in a large home) and reside for 6 months while the savings and credit are improved.
Just our thoughts,
Eric & Rosa
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Another solution would be to pull the credit report yourself and take it from place to place.
GO with the small mom and pop rentals if there are any, they don't require the credit checks that the big apartment complexes do.
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It is not your problem to solve her housing situation. She will be on the street in a few weeks in any case.
So, if you do want to help, how much will you stand to make on the house? Are you really sure of the number?
What would a 6 month deposit do to the profits if you provided her with the deposit (you pay direct to the apartment complex)?
If you cut a deal with the apartment complex where you will guarantee the rent for 6 months and they they revert to the normal deposit you could save paying the deposit in cash. I would be very careful how you deal with that situation as you are getting in deeper and could find it biting your credit if this is not done correctly.
What might work better is to call people with houses to rent. They are much more likely to look at a 6 month deposit as a gift rather then a problem.
I have had friends who paid cash up front and had good luck with apartments and houses.
The best answer is you find her a way for her to solve this on her own without your name and hopefully without your cash.
John
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In this case, money talks. I agree with a preious comment that she may have to pay 4-6 months in advance to find a suitable deal. It's good to see that you have empathy toward her plight. Just be careful the empathy doesn't turn to pity and come back to haunt her financially. Try www.TenantStream.com and see if you can find her a situation that will overlook her credit issue. Good Luck!
This is all excellent advice, thanks! I met with her again and gave her the leads I had which sounded promising. In the meantime she approached the person she thought she had a place with (but at the last minute denied her based on her credit report). She explained her situation...her credit was good and a strong employment history, unfortunately messed up by the divorce/foreclosure. They reconsidered, met with her again and agreed to rent...yeah!! I am all set to close on Friday. I will have the atty set up an escrow for her funds so that she has paid once she has moved out. She will move out as late as June 1st, the closing is May 28.
I know I got emotionally attached to helping her with her plight. I also had to decide if I should still close if she didn't have a place and have to evict (which I didn't want to do).