Do you need a good credit score to get an apartment?

Question

20, need to move out of this toxic household and I have 0 credit.....is there anything else I could do to get an apartment? I’ve heard of getting a co signer but idk

Answer

Most definitely going to need a cosigner with no credit. Your credit score is based off of how much of your limit you use/how well you make the payments on time. Having bad/0 credit is a red flag for pretty much all (with maybe the exception of government funded housing, which I would definitely look into!) apartment complexes...they'd be gambling by signing a contract with you. If you have a cosigner, I would recommend looking into your options there, but if not definitely look up government fundes housing. Best of luck!

Answer

Most credit cards give you a free score. Yes, for most apartment applications you need a good score so they can see you’re a reliable payer. However, you can get a guarantor for most places.

Answer

I started building my credit by signing up for a sears card. I would buy something and pay it off right away. Within a few months of doing this and making payments on time, you should be set. Start building your credit now, use credit karma to check, they have a great tool that makes suggestions on how to improve your credit. You can also go into roommates.com and see if someone is in need of a roommate, hopefully not a weirdo. Try to sign into an apartment where you are responsible for your own lease. In FL, I lived in a college town, and I rented a 3 bed 3 bath and each person had their own lease, so if they walked out on the apartment, you are not responsible for them. That said, if we didn’t find someone to take their lease the company could put a random person in that room. Each room had its bathroom and we only shared common areas like kitchen and living room. See if any apartment complex near colleges by you has something similar.

Answer

You should also try to start building your credit. Apply for a credit card (either one of the bigger ones or one through your local bank) and start working on earning some good credit.
As for the apartment they usually want to see that you have good credit so they can be assured that you’ll pay them back. You can try getting a co-signer or maybe find someplace small with a reasonable landlord that you can explain your lack of a credit score to.

Answer

Have you signed up for credit karma to see your actual credit score? Start building credit so you don’t need to have a co-signer. There are also low income apartments that might take you if you don’t have credit.

Do you need a good credit score to get an apartment?

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