Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I have a rental applicant who's steadily employed and doesn't have any criminal history, but he doesn't have any credit history. Am I asking for trouble if I sign a lease with him?

Are there any co-signors? What kind of gut reaction do you get from the guy? If everything else looks good, I wouldn't say you're asking for trouble if you sign a lease agreement with him. That said, if something DID go wrong, and you ended up with a judgment against him, it might be hard to collect.

Posted by Renee R, MD on Wednesday, September 22, 2010

Job, Steady income, drivers lic/photo id, social security number, no criminal backgroung, no eviction etc..If all this checks out and he is able to pay the monthly rent on time and in full...why not rent to him. In this bad economy there are lots of people with a good credit history but cannot pay the rent because currently either little or no income...Its about the ability to pay the rent now and in the future, yes credit history tells about paying behavior but nothing beats having the income and the ability to pay the rent..so Yes I would rent to this person, just make sure to have photo ID and social security number, pay stubs etc.

Posted by Carolyn M, NY on Wednesday, September 22, 2010

No. Never. What are you thinking about? This is trouble with a capitol T. I don't care what your gut reaction is, people who immigrate here illegally are desperate for the American Dream. Landlords who will rent to them are a part of that dream. Why? Because now they have shelter, and in many states, shelter in the legal sense, and can go months without paying, and often do. You are cheap rent, that is all, and they have no accountability. Sounds way to much like slum-lording to me.

Posted by Maggie Rose M, FL on Saturday, September 25, 2010

I must agree with Rose M. IF he cannot prove that he is here LEGALLY, you are just asking for trouble my friend. I know this from prior experience. Good luck to you!

Posted by John S, CA on Saturday, September 25, 2010

Wait a min. The question was "Should I rent to an immigrant with no credit history"? They didn't say should I rent to an ILLEGAL immigrant. If you menat should I rent to an Illegal - Are you for real. Very dumb idea with way too much risk. If you meant a legal immigrant, then sure just treat them like a citizen who has bad credit. Just make sure you have legal recorse if they don't pay. There are a lot of people that immagrate to the US with the legal right to be here and aren't citizens yet. I assume they meant illegal, but wants to minimize the issue. I'm surprised they didn't ask "How to rent to an undocumented worker who just wants the american dream like everyone else".

Posted by Gregory M, TX on Sunday, February 27, 2011