If you are new to searching "houses for rent," you might be wondering why you are required to have a certain level of credit to rent a home. Why should your potential Chico or Redding rental property care about your credit score? Your credit score can say quite a bit about you as a potential renter.

What Can a Rental Manager Find Out From a Credit Check?

It is common for there to be a required credit check to complete the application process. You will also be required to pay for this credit check. Rental managers will receive an official credit report which will give quite a bit of information about you. 

What Does This Info Tell a Rental Manager?

Your credit check is used by the rental manager to help decide whether you would be a good renter or not. They can see if you are good at making payments on time, left your previous living situation without any debts, and if you're consistent with your financial decisions. They can also see if you are constantly late on payments, have a recent bankruptcy, or have debt due to your prior living situation. If the latter is the case, then there might be a chance that you won’t be considered for one of the houses for rent.

Do You Have Options?

If you have poor credit but need to live in a rental, don’t freak out yet. Some rentals might not let you rent from them at all if you have poor credit, but there are rentals that allow co-signers or allow you to pay an increased deposit amount. If you have poor credit, call the house or houses for rent that you are interested in to inquire about credit requirements. This way you can save time and money on the rental application process.

What to Do if You Have a Poor Score?

It's important that you ask how you can improve it. While there are several different ways you can improve the healthy of your credit score, the first thing you need to do is get a copy of your credit score. This will allow you to see what actions you are taking that are negatively affecting your credit score. 

So, if your credit score is being dinged by consistently making late payments, you can then be conscious about making your payments on time. Maybe you don’t have many lines of credit. This is when you can research new lines of credit that would be best for you. The important thing is that you get a copy of your credit report to better understand the flaws in your credit behavior so you can change them and start improving your score.

Now that you know the basics on how your credit score can affect your Redding or Chico rental search, check out our beautiful Chico and Redding apartment complexes and rental houses. You can find photos, video tours, amenities lists and more at Hignell Rentals. Start exploring today!

Besides improving your credit score, what other ways can you make applying for a rental as easy as possible? Download our 6 Tips to Get Your Rental Application Approved and make sure you check off each item. That way the next time you apply you're ahead of everyone else!