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As most people know, we live in a society regulated by our income, credit history and rental history. Either it is easy to keep a good credit standing or easy to have a bad credit standing; it is one or the other. Unfortunately, it is very easy to start a trail of bad credit once a bill is paid late. Depending on the current financial circumstances, it may not just stop at one late bill. What impacts credit is when rent, credit card, loan, mortgage, cellphone bill or any other bill is paid late. Many people live paycheck-to-paycheck and when something out of the ordinary takes place like an emergency, it can cause a snowball effect and cause more damage to the credit report. No one ever predicts struggling or having bad credit and if there is bad credit, you can reverse it by paying your debt on time.

It is unfortunate because if someone has bad credit, it may affect them from getting approved for an apartment or credit. Bad credit may consist of a slow payment history, an eviction, a foreclosure, a broken lease, a lien or a judgement, repossession or something else. These types of bad credit will show up on the credit report and may show up on the rental history, too. If a potential landlord sees anything negative on a credit report or rental history, they may automatically deny the rental application. This can be very frustrating to any renter needing to find a place to live quickly. The process of looking for a 2nd chance apartment on your own can result in consuming a lot of your time while causing stress.

Apartment management companies and individual landlords utilize sophisticated credit research services that can detect if an individual has had late rental payments, a broken lease or an eviction regardless of where they have lived in the United States. Typically, if you have any rental debt or an eviction judgement, it will likely be reported to the credit bureaus; there are three major credit bureaus – Transunion, Equifax and Experian. Rental debt and eviction judgements are either submitted to one, two or all the credit bureaus.

A broken lease or eviction can stay on your credit report for up to 7-years. After the 7-year period expires, any of the debt should be removed from all three of the credit bureaus. But, if an employer or anyone else does a background check on you, any debt that went through a court like an eviction or bankruptcy will show up on the report regardless. It is unfortunate, but collection agencies may resubmit the bad debt to the credit bureaus after the 7-year period expires to attempt to collect the old debt. If this occurs, you would want to contact the credit bureaus and provide evidence that the rental debt is over 7 years old. Then, the debt can be removed, but it may take at least 30 days for it to be removed from the credit report. A low credit score can also affect getting approved to rent an apartment or other rental property. Typically, apartment management companies have similar FICO score requirements and have broader rules because they manage a larger and more densely-populated community than individual landlords.

Furthermore, landlords and apartment management companies must treat every prospective renter and tenant fairly. The Fair Housing Act is a federal law requiring apartment management companies and individual landlords to not discriminate against anyone based on their religious preference, ethnic background, family status or sexual orientation. This law does not apply to an individual’s income or credit background. When potential landlords or apartment management companies are looking to approve a potential renter, they do look at the income-to-debt ratio, as it is a major factor in their decision aside from their credit history. If there are recent bad credit issues, it will make it difficult to get approved for an apartment, while those individuals who have older bad debt may get approved for an apartment.

Second Chance Apartment Locators is a nationwide network of leasing agents and other rental professionals committed to helping individuals improve their bad credit, and to help them find the best apartment, condo, townhouse or home matching their requirements. We are considered the only national site of its kind that assists people across the nation with the main goal of helping them find a suitable place to live at the most affordable price.

It is easy to get started with your apartment search, just fill out and submit the simple form on the website. It won’t be long before you are on your way to getting approved for a 2nd chance apartment while improving your credit history. Having bad credit whether it is slow to pay, a rental debt, an eviction, a broken lease or any other debt issue, you will be able to get approved for a great place to live with our help. Regardless of which major metropolitan city you would like to live in, Second Chance Apartment Locators will be able to find you the best-matched place to rent regardless of your bad credit. We have assisted thousands of renters across the nation find the best place to live, and we can help you, too! The process is quick, simple and free to you. So, what are you waiting for, fill out the form to get approved for your 2nd chance apartment!