Renting a Home in Los Angeles. Sample Lease and Application

If you are considering renting a home in Los Angeles with the help of a Realtor®, you may not be familiar with what will be required to present to the landlord.

The first think you will be asked to do is fill out an application.  Together with this you will most probably be asked to run your own credit report. Sometimes the landlord’s agent will ask for funds and will run the credit themselves, but generally you will be allowed to run it.

Three recommended sites on which to run your credit are: freecreditreport.comcreditscore.com/creditreport.com, and annualcreditreport.com.  You may also want to try Wallethub. Make sure to run a full report on all three bureaus, not just the score.  You will submit this report together with the completed application below.

If you do not have good credit or have no credit (a foreign national) you may be asked to provide a guarantor or pay several months up front. The guarantor will have to fill out the application and provide their credit report.  If your company is guaranteeing your lease other documentation may be required.

Points to Note:

If you are renting the home with a friend, partner, and sometimes even a spouse each tenant will probably be required to fill out an application form and provide their own credit report.

If you are providing your own credit report you may leave Items 6 blank and also Part II.

When you receive the lease check out the points below as an explanation.

Item 2:  This will almost always be B, a lease and not a month-to-month tenancy.

Item 4:  The security deposit is most often two months rent. There is no longer a first, last, and security deposit.

Item 5:  This details the amounts due on which date.

Item 10B: In most cases you and both Realtors® will walk through the property upon move in and detail any defects.  You also have 3 days after move in to inform the landlord of any additional problems, although the landlord is responsible for ongoing problems.  When you move out the same form will be used to ensure that no damage was incurred during your tenancy.

Items 15 and 16:  These refer to either house rules and/or condo association rules which need to be adhered to.

The Los Angeles rental market is highly competitive and being ready to go quickly with information that will satisfy your prospective landlord will give you a leg up on the competition.

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