Think that foreclosure on your credit history is going to keep you from ever finding a place to lay your head again? Think again. 82 percent of independent landlords surveyed told the National Association of Independent Landlords (NAIL) that they would rent to someone with a foreclosure as long as they had otherwise good credit[1]. “A foreclosure will absolutely slam someone’s [credit] scores,” observed president of NAIL Tracey Benson, adding that if a landlord sees that people have paid their bills their whole lives then lost their jobs they will likely still consider that tenant a good risk. In fact, she said, they might be better than some others who have never owned their own homes[2].

Benson believes that there is now a greater need for rental property thanks to the abundance of defaults, and emphasized that landlords are – and should be – “carefully vetting applicants.” However, the process is more complicated now since so many renters do have foreclosures on their records, and the issue at stake is “whether defaulting applicants were a victim to financial woes or following a lifelong trend of not paying bills.”

Would you rent to a tenant who had a recent foreclosure?

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