Monday, February 27, 2012

Finding an apartment that accepts criminal background


Due to the economy there is a growing trend of tenants not being able to pay their rent. Which subsequently has created a market for Second Chance apartments. This is when a community allows these rental history problems, usually with a larger deposit involved. The clients are given the chance to still lease an apartment, and there are some pretty nice apartments with very large management companies who do allow a second chance.
There are varying degrees of difficulty in finding an property with rental history problems. Among those are three factors involved with rental history problems that will either open or decrease your selection. First off is how many do you have, the less you have the better for obvious reasons. Second, is how old is the rental history problem, the less in age it is, the more of a struggle it will be to find you a apartment. From experience, I would say it needs to be at least 6 months old, but the older it is, the more properties you will have to select from. On a side note, if you can get a run of good rental history of at least 6 months then that will open up many more options. Third and final, is the amount owed on the rental debt. This one is a double trouble issue, because in most cases it has made it to your credit report as well and it is affecting your credit score. If you owe more than $1500 on a rental debt then it will decrease your choice of apartments. If you can pay off the rental debt, then you will only have the rental history problem to deal with and it is considerably easier to find a nice apartment.
As an apartment locator, I have noticed a trend of apartments allowing some bumps and bruises on rental history. Issues as small as owing a small fee to a property, to as much as a client having 3 evictions. As a tenant you should avoid being evicted if at all possible, because unlike credit history which clears after 7 years. A rental history problem, like a broken lease or an eviction, can follow you around for over 10 years. Which does decrease the selection of communities you can qualify for. With that being said if you are reading this, you probably already have an issue and are looking for a way to move forward. Well I am here to tell you there is a light on the horizon, and there are "A" list  apartments that you can get approved at. At SecondChanceApartment.com, you can get started in finding a property that will approve you.
With a background, there are a different set of rules that govern the communities, and those have a few factors as well. First is the charge, whether it is a misdemeanor or felony, and what it is related too. The more severe the crime, the less apartments you will have to choose from. The apartments have different rules as to what they can accept. Second is the age of the crime, apartments generally want you to be 5 years past the end of your probationary period, but if this is not you, there are properties out there that will take more recent. The number of offenses is pretty cut and dry, they will take a couple misdemeanors, but with felonies if there is more than one you are going to have a hard time unless they are real old. Finally, whether it is a misdemeanor or a felony, if it is against a person, i.e sexual, assault, robbery, or worse... There is only one that I know of in the Dallas/Fort Worth area, out of 300,000 communities. I think its best you look in privately owned townhomes, because they do not check background.
Good Luck, and I hope this was informative.
Bryan Bjerke
Spirit Apartment Locator - Allen, TX