Many times a couple living in an apartment only puts one name on the rental agreement. There isn’t any problem legally doing this, however, it does prevent the person without a name on the lease to gain a rental history background. And this could become a problem if the spouse with his or her name on the lease passes away and the surviving spouse needs to move to a new home.
Rental history reports are similar to credit history reports. The longer you rent (or use credit) the more information – and hopefully good information – there is to provide a glowing rental history background about you to people who would review these reports.
Who reviews rental history reports?
Landlords often review rental history reports of applicants looking to rent a unit or home under their management. This allows them to carefully narrow applicants down to candidates who have a limited history of evictions, not paying rent on time or have a criminal history. It’s not necessarily a bad thing if you don’t have any background information because you haven’t had your name on a lease in the past, however, you might not look as promising as a candidate who has 10 years of good history paying rent on time and never being evicted.
How do you find out your rental history report?
You can make the effort to search online for all the information that would appear on your report, but it will take time, and there is a chance the material won’t be complete. Instead, get a copy of your rental history report from My Rental History Report to see what information appears on your background check. It can take time to build a good rental history report; be sure to pay your rent on time, follow the lease agreement you signed with the landlord and work in a positive manner with your landlord on any damages caused by you or your guests that might need fixing.
