Agent won't call back about renting house

[Mike S.]

I have elderly relatives who are very interested in renting a nearby house. Everything was going great until the owners or real estate agent ran a credit check on them. I'm not entirely sure what happened but they can't rent the house. They have no idea what the reason is as they can't get the agent to return their calls. I believe the owners live in another city and I don't think my relatives have their phone number. We suspect that the problem was with the credit check. At the time, my relatives were $150,000 in debt, but now they are completely debt free.

Should they keep trying to contact the real estate agent? If so, should they also attempt trying to contact the owner? I might be able to find their phone numbers on the internet or through the previous renters.

My relatives are desperate to get this house but they need to do so by the beginning of next week. They have to be out of their house by the end of the month.

[Ryan A.]

Check Housing laws but I'm pretty sure the relatives can (and should) get a formal denial with an explanation. My agent ALWAYS follows up with rental prospects.

Perhaps the agent's broker or the local NAR office can give you more insight as what to do next.