What happens now? Who will rent to us?

[JulesK]

Hello everyone,
Thank you to all who are sharing their stories of walking away; it truly gives us strength and hope.
My husband and I are 90% sure that we're going to walk away from our house, but of course, the emotional decision is the remaining 10% that scares us. We know that my credit (house was bought only in my name on loan and title) will take a nose-dive and we probably won't be able to buy a new car anytime soon- not that I can even afford one, BUT we also know that we will regain our financial sanity and in just 6 months time, be able to pay off 4-5 credit cards, and in one year, be able to save over $25K.
Part of our fear is what happens after we walk away? Where do we live? I have been looking online at rental properties (there are TONS out there that will cost half or less of our current mortgage), but many of the large property management companies suggest that they will only accept applications who have 80% positive credit. I'm sure we could find an independent landlord who is willing to accept us, but we almost prefer a property management company to feel reassured.
Does anyone have suggestions or personal experiences on how they were able to rent after foreclosure/DIL/walking away?

[Enough Already]

Hi Jules,
Welcome to the forum. What we did, and we got this idea from other forum members, was to print out a copy of our credit reports before we missed the first payment. That way we have proof of our payment history prior to this mess.

Others on the forum have said that they have found people willing to rent to those hit by foreclosure. It seems that people are pretty understanding of it all. If you think about it, I'm sure many of the people looking to rent at this time have been through the foreclosure mess. They sort of have to work with us - we're a whole new market. People who have good/great credit except for the foreclosure.

Good luck and please keep us posted.

[IGiveUP]

Hi there JulesK,

I don't post very often, but definitely keep up on the Walk Away stories.

I wanted to let you know that we are in the process of walking from our house and mortgage. We're getting close to 4 months past due and should have our Notice of Default soon.

Just this week I secured a Townhouse in my first choice location right in the town we both work in. My approach to the Manager was complete honesty. I figured I had nothing to lose. I told her all about the pending Foreclosure, even wrote that on the application. I also told her we would be filing Bankruptcy to take care of all the cc debt that she would see when she pulled our credit reports. I mean I just laid it all out on the table. She appreciated that honesty so much that she overlooked the bad credit report and lack of rental history and said "Let's do this" her exact words. So I put down the deposit and we'll start moving over slowly throughout May. So what I am saying is that it is not impossible. And to just be honest about the situation right from the beginning and you will find a nice place to rent.

Take care and good luck to you.

[IGiveUP]

Oh by the way, I am in California in the Bay Area. I don't think my location shows on my posts.

[knownick]

I've had the same fears and have been watching craigslist ads to get a feel for the rental market in my area (Sacramento, CA). I've noticed an increase in listings that specifically mention foreclosures on your credit record and a willingness to work with that.

Like was already mentioned, there are a LOT of people in this same situation - at some point it's going to be a market that people simply can't ignore.

[dasmom]

I didn't have difficulty securing a rental. I didn't spell it out, but the manager could see on the rental application that my current mortgage payment (principal and interest) is 54% of my gross income. I told her that I was trying to sell my house. I was approved and the manager is just waiting for me to tell her when I am ready to move.

I have a teenager so I took him with me to see the potential apartment community. He's not happy about the possibility of moving but at least he knows where we would be moving. We'll be staying in the same town and school system with a rental payment that's 23% of my gross income.

As knownick said, there are many people in the same situation that we are in. Also, I think there are people moving out of apartments due to job losses, so apartment managers are going to be more flexible in this economy.

Best wishes in your search!

dasmom

[JulesK]

Thank you all. I figure that when I present my case to a possible landlord and tell them that I can pay first month's rent plus deposit plus second or third month, that they won't turn us away. We're also in Sacramento and are amazed at how nicer houses than ours are going for half of our mortgage.