If you are thinking of renting a home in Los Angeles, you are going to need to provide a credit report.
You can pay a fee for the landlord or his or her agent to run the report for you, but it is much easier for you to run one yourself.
Once a year you can get a free credit report Two of the ones that I like my clients to use are freecreditreport.com and creditscore.com/creditreport.com (one and the same company), which charge $12.95. I have been told that the most reliable one to use is annualcreditreport.com
You will run a full report, not just get the scores, on all three bureaus which you will be able to email. Also, the landlord may require proof of funds to show that you can cover at least a year’s worth of rent.
Unfortunately for some of my clients, their credit has not served them well. Landlords are becoming extremely picky about prospective tenants’ credit scores and have eliminated some very good candidates. They tend to be wary of scores in the 600s, even though there may be a good reason for those lower scores.
If you feel your credit score is going to let you down you may consider looking for a co-signor or guarantor for the lease. This will be the case if you are new to the country and have not established credit. And of course, if you can afford it, you may pay a year’s rental in advance which allay any concern on the landlord’s part.
Like the the housing market in general, the rental market is suffering from low inventory. You need to look as strong as possible when applying for a lease. There is a lot of competition.
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I usually represent the tenants and am the one who has to come up with the credit report. It would be much easier if a property manager were involved at the other end.