Why Rental Applications Cost Money

Posted by CHRA Broker on July 10, 2010 // 7 Comments

Why Rental Applications Cost Money And The 5 Steps To Avoid Paying It More Than Once.

The biggest gripe for any would-be renter searching for a home is this…”I hate having to pay a $50 application fee for each property I apply for!”  So why does each company charge? Well for starters the documents involved in an application costs money, and the job verifications and rental history costs time which always equal money in business.  When you apply for a rental, your a)credit report is almost always required, and there is a fee for this; b) there is also the time to verify your employment and rental history and c) your criminal background check.  Your application will involve at least these three things.  That’s one of the reasons why an application will vary from property to property.  Most companies will also outsource these tasks which creates the price variation in application fees. 

So what do you do to avoid paying for an application over and over again? Read the five tips below.

1. Always find out in advance what a property manager’s qualification requirements are.  Knowledge is power, if they require specific things and you don’t fit those requirements, you’ve just saved yourself some money if you didn’t apply for the property because you knew in advance what those requirements were.
2. Make sure you make enough income to qualify.  Most property managers will want you to make at least 3 times the amount you will pay in rent. So if you are looking for an $800 property, you need to earn at least $2400 per month to qualify for that property.  If you make less than that, you risk not qualifying and having to apply somewhere else. 
3. Get a copy of your credit report in advance.  You are entitled to 1 free credit report each year from each of the bureaus.  Or you can get all three credit reports with your credit score. Get an Equifax 3-in-1 Credit Report Now!  If you haven’t seen your report in a while, you should get a copy to see what is on there.  You’d be amazed at the amount of errors that may be on your report.  If you can correct them prior to applying for a rental, you can save yourself a lot of money and headache.  In a lot of cases, you only get one chance to make a first credit impression.  If there is an error on your report that is affecting your scores and history, you can’t tell the Property manager to “hold on while I go and fix that….OK, pull the report again!”  Not going to happen.
4. Be upfront and honest about your credit challenges.  See number 1.  When you are asking what the requirements are, if you know you’ve had an eviction, but it was years ago, mention that in advance.  Some property owners will still rent the property to you if you put down a larger deposit. If they are still prepared to move forward with your application after you’ve given them an idea of what to expect, then give it a try.
5. Make sure all your information is correct on your application.  Seems simple enough but if you put an incorrect phone number for a job verification or your previous landlord’s number is wrong and the verification process cannot be completed because they cannot reach them to verify your information, you may get denied.  Make sure you have all your info correct.  If your previous landlord was a private owner and not an apartment complex, make sure you have your canceled rent checks for at least the last 6 – 12 months as an alternate form of proof of rent checks.

Hopefully these tips will help you eliminate having to apply to several places and pay each one an application fee.  It can save you money at a time when you really need to.

Category : Blog & Helpful Articles