Apartment Rental Process

[gettingthere]

I plan to purchase a small RV and take extended road-trips for a few years, and a location in the central area of the country would be more convenient for a home base than my current Massachusetts location. But I think I’d like to return to this area once I have the itch to travel the country satisfied, so renting seems like a better choice for those few years.
Responses to RIT’s thread on apartment living gave me a lot of good information.
But I have never rented before, and am ignorant about the process.
What sort of information do you need to provide to prospective landlords?
Do they require proof of income? A credit check? Character references?
Is it better to go through a realtor? or deal directly with the apartment management company?

 

[figner]

I've rented mostly in southern California, and am not sure how varied this is around the country. It's typical for the landlord to do a credit check. Sometimes proof of income in the form of an employer's phone number. They usually ask for character references but I've never had a prospective landlord actually call one.

One thing to keep in mind: listen to your gut on any "red flags" that come up regarding an apartment or landlord. When they're hoping to get you to rent, they're probably presenting their best behavior - any issues you see then (communication, attitude, etc) will only be magnified later!

I've looked through apartment management companies, and also by browsing craigslist and driving around neighborhoods. Slight preference for individual landlords, as they can be more flexible and if they own the property, might be more responsive to maintenance issues.

 

[tmm99]

I've used craigslist for the last 2 moves I've made. That's my preferred method of searching for an apartment. They asked for my latest check stub in addition to running a credit report.

 

[calmloki]

We are pretty conservative - a credit check of course, housing & employment history for the last 15 years, criminal background check, polygraph, retina scan, and blood sample for DNA matching on the Interpol database.

Then we get into familial history, mother's maiden name, user names and passwords, bank account numbers, you know; fairly normal stuff.



What figner said.

 

[gettingthere]

We are pretty conservative - a credit check of course, housing & employment history for the last 15 years, criminal background check, polygraph, retina scan, and blood sample for DNA matching on the Interpol database.

Then we get into familial history, mother's maiden name, user names and passwords, bank account numbers, you know; fairly normal stuff.

Thanks all, for your responses.

 

[ERD50]

The other side of this - how do you check that the owner isn't behind on his/her payments? I guess it varies by state, but I recall some links to nasty stories here of a renter that got kicked out because the landlord was foreclosed. The renter was up-to-date in payments, and now was in a pickle to find a place, and lost his security deposit (at least for now, probably forever).

-ERD50

 

[gettingthere]

Excellent point about the foreclosure issue, I had not really thought about that aspect.

I found this article idenitfying some other possible pitfalls to consider before renting:

5 Things Your Landlord Won't Tell You - Yahoo! Real Estate

 

[meierlde]

The other side of this - how do you check that the owner isn't behind on his/her payments? I guess it varies by state, but I recall some links to nasty stories here of a renter that got kicked out because the landlord was foreclosed. The renter was up-to-date in payments, and now was in a pickle to find a place, and lost his security deposit (at least for now, probably forever).

-ERD50

I think the issue depends upon if the apartment is part of a multi-family development or a single family house. A multi-family development is a business that makes its money by renting apartments out. To kick people out before the lease expires would not make sense for the bank, all they would get is less income from the place.
Note that since 2009 if you have a lease you can stay till the lease expires except if the new owner wants to live there, then you get 90 days, just as if you have no lease you have 90 days.
You may well loose the security deposit but you have to be allowed to stay for the term of the lease or 90 days.