Struggles of renting with poor credit history

[Josh Borg]

I recently received a great promotion and relocation offer from my company. My salary is doubling, I'm moving to a state with no state income tax, and the cost of living is only slightly higher than my current town. 

The problem however... Is my credit score. When I was a single guy it was great, over 800! But after I married my ex wife it dropped to the upper 600s. Not good but not too bad, it's fixable though. Then the divorce started, and the costly child custody battle. I was successful, thankfully, but my credit score took a huge hit. Like, I didn't know it could be below 450 type of situation.

So now I'm here with a great job and salary waiting for me but I can't find a decent place to live. If I had to I'd just live in my car, I've done it before and it would help me get a large savings and help quickly pay off any debt. But I can't do that with a two year old. She needs a nice place in a safe area with good schools/daycare nearby. But even though the rent prices are only slightly higher than what I currently pay my applications are being denied. 

does anyone have any advice for me? I'm clearly making steps towards fixing my credit and having financial stability, but no one is willing to work with me on that. No history of damage in previous rentals, while I've had a late payment here or there I've always paid including the harsh late fees. Never underpaid or left a rental in anything but the condition it was in when rented to me. 

[Andrew Freed]

 @Josh Borg That is a tough situation. First and foremost, work on increasing your credit limit on all of your credit lines but do not utilize any of the credit. The goal of this act is to lower your credit utilization rate to almost 0, which will increase your credit dramatically. Credit utilization rate is the largest contributing factor to credit. Also, work to eliminate any debt that you have on record. 

Regarding options, I agree with Carlos that you should try to connect with mom and pop investors via facebook market place or craiglist, see the place, explain your situation in person and "pull their heartstrings" and offer to pay double security to comfort any uneasiness. You can even offer a six month lease to show them your willing to lower the odds of needing to evict you. I think if you use this tactic and do it enough, you will find an empathetic soul out there that is willing to work with you and your daughter. Best of luck my friend.