Quick back story: I am helping a client find a new lease. Their current building is not renewing leases for whatever reason and so now my client who just gained citizenship last year and his wife, a victim of identity fraud, are in the market competing for a new lease.
One thing I've noticed is that landlords want 700+ credit scores or else it's a futile effort submitting applications.
In the perfect world for a landlord, when they put their property on the market, they may get 10 people to submit applications, and likely out of those there will be at least one who checks all of the boxes - great!
But, do you as a landlord ever take care to look at a situation like my clients' where the husband is still building out his credit profile in the U.S. and the extreme case of identity theft that has severely hurt the wife's credit profile?
These folks have two children, make good money, and are looking to buy their first home next year, but in the meantime, have to have a roof over their heads.
So my question to the other landlords out there is: How heavily do you rely on/trust information furnished by the Credit Reporting Agencies? And do you ever take care to evaluate each applicant's individual circumstances? Or is it just, check all the boxes, else best of luck?
