After months of searching, you’ve finally found the perfect rental. Once you’ve toured the rental and discussed your options with the landlord, you’ll have to complete the application, and, nine times out of 10, they will run a credit check on you. If you have bad credit or no credit at all, having your credit pulled can leave you panic-stricken, but with a little knowledge of how the process works, as well as what you can do to rent with bad credit, you’ll be able to breathe easier once again. That’s why the experts at Ways 2 Rent have come up with this guide on landlord credit checks.

What exactly do landlords look for when they look at your credit report?

If you’re trying to rent with bad credit or no credit, we don’t need to tell you how difficult it can be. In our last blog, we went over a few tips for renting with bad credit, one of which was understanding what is in your credit report. However, it’s only helpful to know what’s in your credit report if you know what landlords are looking for. Here are a few things that landlords will look for in your credit report:

DON’T LET YOUR CREDIT HISTORY KEEP YOU OUT OF THE RIGHT RENTAL.

Credit history is one of those things that will follow you around for years. If you’ve defaulted on a lease, chronically made late payments or have had an eviction, it will stay on your credit history for seven years, making it difficult to do everything from finding a job to renting a home. But you can’t just be homeless for seven years while you wait for those pings on your history to drop off, and luckily, Ways 2 Rent is here to help you find the right second chance rental program for your needs.