Application

• Landlords are legally entitled to view your credit report when you submit an application for a rental. Your credit report is used to determine whether you are financially responsible, so it's a good idea to clear up any discrepancies on your report prior to applying for a rental. Landlords will look at your credit report to predict if you will pay your rent on time each month. If your credit is below average, you may have difficulty securing a rental.
  
  

Below Average Credit

• If you have below average credit, you may still be able to rent a property with the help of a cosigner or by offering to put more money down. With a cosigner, you will need to find a financially responsible person with a good credit score to agree to pay your rent if you can't. The other option is to offer to pay several months' rent at once, which demonstrates that you are financially secure enough to cover your payments.
  
  

Warnings

• Each time a landlord runs a credit check for a rental application, it creates a small deficit in your credit score. To avoid damaging your score, be selective about which apartments you apply to; submitting many applications could cause your score to drop significantly. You may also ask the landlord if he will accept a copy of your consumer credit report. You are entitled to a free copy of your consumer credit report from each of the three credit bureaus (Experian, Equifax and TransUnion) each year at the Annual Credit Report website.
  
  

Considerations

• Some landlords will not check your credit. You do not need to advertise your credit problems if the landlord isn't going to check your credit report. Oftentimes, independent landlords will not look into your credit and rely more heavily on references. It may be helpful to ask a previous landlord to write a letter vouching for your ability to make rent payments on time each month. The support of one or more previous landlords will also demonstrate that you're serious about securing the rental.