It’s no surprise that thinking about your credit score can bring feelings of frustration rather than comfort. For many, a lower credit score can become an obstacle, limiting access to desirable rental properties or making the process of buying a home more challenging.
In a competitive housing market, especially near military installations where demand can be high, credit history frequently plays a significant role in a landlord or lender’s decision. This makes understanding and improving your credit score an important step toward securing the home you want.
What Makes Up Your Credit Score?
A credit score is a numerical rating that reflects how reliably you handle borrowed money. It’s based on your past financial behavior, including whether you pay bills on time, how much debt you carry, and how long you’ve had credit accounts.
Lenders, landlords, and some service providers use it to gauge your level of financial responsibility and to predict how likely you are to make payments.
Why Does Your Credit Score Matter?
Because your credit score is a reflection of how well you manage your finances, it comes into play when you ask to borrow money, whether that’s to make a big purchase, buy property, or rent/buy a home.
It might seem unfair that a bad credit score (and maybe just one poor financial decision) narrows your options, but it’s understandable when you look at it from the business side and realize that it’s one small way that landlords can protect their investment.
That said, a low number doesn’t eliminate all of your options.
What's Considered a Good Credit Score for Renting?
A FICO credit score ranges from 300 to 850. If you have a score of 620 or below, you’re more likely to run into problems when trying to rent a home.
What Credit Score Do You Need to Rent an Apartment?
Most property management companies prefer to see a credit score of 620 or higher, as it indicates that you generally pay bills on time and manage credit responsibly. That said, if your credit score is below 620, that doesn’t mean you can’t rent an apartment, but you will need to get a little more creative. More on this in a minute.
How Can You Find a Rental with a Bad Credit Score?
1. Show proof of consistent income.
Great news for military members! Do you know what the military provides? Job security with a consistent income that’s published online.
Landlords might use a rent-to-income ratio calculator or ask to see two to three months of income to prove that you can afford to make rent payments. But in the case of military families, your previous month’s income isn’t always the best representation since Basic Housing Allowance changes based on where you're stationed.
If you lived in Oklahoma for the past two years, your income isn’t going to go over well with a California landlord. Instead, it’s a good idea to show that you’re consistently paid by the government, that you have orders to California, and point them to the BAH calculator online, assuring them that you’ll have plenty of money to cover the rental expenses.
2. Live on base.
Since privatized military housing companies get paid directly from your paycheck, they don’t worry about whether or not they’ll see the money.
However, you won’t be able to reduce your rent-to-income ratio or build credit like you might be able to do if you were renting off-base in a favorable housing market, since privatized military housing payments aren't typically reported to credit bureaus.
Learn more: Do Rent Payments Affect Your Credit Score?
3. Have a co-signer.
If you don’t have the credit score required to rent a home, you can always have a cosigner — someone who meets the credit score requirement and who agrees to help out financially if necessary.
Just remember, a cosigner will be legally responsible should you fail to pay rent or get evicted. As you can imagine, asking someone to cosign a lease can strain a relationship. Before turning to your friend or family member, consider the negative repercussions and establish a communication plan to preserve the relationship.
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4. Provide stellar recommendation letters.
What better way to reassure a potential landlord than with references? Allow them to see that even with a less-than-perfect credit score, you’ve proven to be an excellent tenant by making rent payments, caring for the property, and communicating well with the homeowner.
A letter explaining the circumstances of your debt and how you’re working to overcome it can also ease stress in this particular situation.
5. Pursue a rental home that doesn’t run a credit check.
Not every landlord will check your credit or rent-to-income ratio, so it might be best to wait and provide references and letters until it becomes a topic of discussion. Better yet, look for individual landlords (like other military members) who may be more likely to let your military affiliation speak for you.
6. Be willing to pay more.
You may need to pay a larger security deposit or offset the landlord’s risk by offering multiple months' rent upfront. A bigger lump sum can be difficult to make. However, it can offer a faster solution than waiting to build your credit score.
Learn more: Not sure how much rent you can really afford? Try using an online rent-to-income ratio calculator.
Your credit score carries a lot of weight, but knowing the answer to questions like "what credit score do you need to rent an apartment?" and how to combat the risk associated with it will do wonders. Are you ready to start the search for your next rental home? Gather your references and proof of income, then visit MilitaryByOwner to start looking.
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