Augie 
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According to a report released by the National Association of Independent Landlords 82% of the 582 landlords polled would rent to someone who lost a home to foreclosure, assuming that the applicant previously had a good credit history.
Landlords won’t typically rent to applicants with poor credit – and a foreclosure can have a devastating affect on a credit score. The exception appears to be when someone has paid their bills their whole life but either lost a job or could no longer meet their mortgage and had the hand their keys back to the bank according to Tracy Benson, president of The National Association of Independent Landlords.
The poll was conducted between March 21 and March 25, 2011.
Would you rent to someone with a previous foreclosure?
Link to this page
Ahh, it’s the typical catch-22. The rental market is hot right now but it’s hot from all the people losing homes to foreclosure. Landlords that automatically disqualify renters due to credit are missing the big boat. I’m actually finding more landlords that are overlooking credit issues as long as the renters are able to provide credible proof of income and sometimes a little extra security deposit. Co-signers can also be a great tool to turn a “no” into a “yes” – a lot of times it’s about making the landlord comfortable with the risk and getting someone else with good credit on the lease can sometimes tip the scales.
Landlords usually check credit reports, but most say they’ll still rent to people who have scores dinged by a foreclosure. Thanks for sharing.
I’ve heard about this issue.Increasingly, mortgage defaults stem more from lost jobs rather than borrowers who had a toxic mortgage they could not afford. A thorough background check usually indicates whether financial woes are part of a recent spate of bad luck or a life-long trend.
It really is a tricky one. You can understand a landlords nervousness but at the same time often the potential tenant hasn’t done much wrong. As the above comments state; I think it should be a case of putting each applicant through the same stringent background/credit checks that have always been run and using common sense.