Landlords Not Too Worried About Foreclosures
May 6th, 2011
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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[1] http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/141312/20110504/landlords-foreclosure-credit-mortgage-jobs-homes.htm
[2] http://www.dsnews.com/articles/landlords-undeterred-by-foreclosures-survey-reveals-2011-05-05
May 6th, 2011 at 7:54 AM
A lot of people loose their homes through foreclosure because of events that are out of their control. If they had a strong record of paying bills on time, they should not be punished for something that they could not control. This should not limit their ability to rent, as long as they understand that the rent comes first.
Jim Myers