How to rent an apartment with no credit history
First-time renters often face steep hurdles when applying for housing because they have a thin credit score and limited income. This makes it difficult to pass standard background and financial screenings, leaving young movers stuck without a clear path to secure an apartment.
What the numbers show
Counted from the threads quoted below. How we count
- The most recent one is from October 2026.
- This comes up 69.8× more often in r/PropertyManagement than across the site as a whole.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
Found another way around this?
Share your steps and trade-offs so fellow engineers don't have to reinvent the wheel. No account required.
- 1Ordering necessities online instead of walking or taking public transit to storesDid this help you?
- 2Using expensive rideshare services like UberDid this help you?
- 3using a credit card strictly for regular bills on autopay and paying the balance off monthlyDid this help you?
- 4using a cosigner for apartment rentalsDid this help you?
- 5offering higher security deposits to landlordsDid this help you?
- 6Buying a car outright instead of rentingDid this help you?
- 7Using a secured credit card for small everyday purchases and paying it off immediatelyDid this help you?
- 8Paying higher deposits or rates for services and insuranceDid this help you?
- 9Offering a larger security depositDid this help you?
- 10Showing a healthy savings balance or months of rent reserves to offset the low scoreDid this help you?
- 11Cleaning up the credit report prior to applyingDid this help you?
- 12leaving the property idle or in its current conditionDid this help you?
- 13seeking advice from specialized real estate or farmland lending sourcesDid this help you?
- 14Call the employer's HR department directly using a publicly listed phone number to verify the job offer and salary.Did this help you?
- 15Request bank statements from the applicant's home country showing consistent savings or previous rent payments.Did this help you?
- 16Charge a larger security deposit to offset the increased risk.Did this help you?
- 17Deny the application or put it on hold if employment cannot be independently verified.Did this help you?
- 18Asking the property manager to manually override the automated screening decision.Did this help you?
- 19Providing a co-signer to bypass the system's thin-file rejection.Did this help you?
- 20Paying an additional application fee or higher deposit.Did this help you?
- 21Considering opening unnecessary credit cards or loans just to thicken the credit profile.Did this help you?
In their words
Unedited, grouped by where they were said, most upvoted first within each place, each linked to the thread it came from.
“So far, we've had one problem caused by not having a credit card; after landing, we were unable to rent a car”source ↗
“Hi, I was wondering if I were able to get a 3k loan from a credit union easily despite not having a “credit” history?”source ↗
“My car needs to be fixed and I don’t really want to buy another since this one’s paid off and I’m not very liquid on cash atm and have until next month before I don’t have a ride to work.”source ↗
“Unless you are staying there for the rest of your life, it may come up literally every time you rent somewhere new.”source ↗
“My employer for example has restricted covenants on carrying credit card debt while being employed.”source ↗
“I'm worried if after uni I wanted to rent and they ask for a mandatory credit score”source ↗
“my main concerns I think are that I've never rented before, my credit score is thin because I'm young and just never really built it, and just general moving jitters.”source ↗
“I received rentgrow email today for my report, and it says co-signer required due to limited credit experience?! I’m livid right now.”source ↗
“Hi, I’m trying to gather some thoughts on how my situation would be handled by (corporate) property managers.”source ↗
“Should I anticipate this being a problem for me? If so, what should I start preparing to ease the transition into a new place.”source ↗
“I had a 640 with a collection from a broken lease years back and still got approved, just had to pay a full month deposit instead of the $500 special.”source ↗
“Usually if you’ve got a healthy balance to go with your income (six months worth of rent), they can let the credit score slide.”source ↗
“I’m a first-time landlord, and a prospective tenant has applied to rent my property. However, because they recently relocated from overseas for a job, they do not have a US credit history or ability to pass a background check.”source ↗
“So many fake offer letters that I simply cannot take them at face value, in a city known for tech-employed immigrants.”source ↗
“I had similar thing happen last year, score was fine but report flagged me for thin file even though account was 6 years old.”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 2How to get a business loan with low credit for equipment
- 3Do I need to buy a car on finance just to build credit?
- 8How to get business funding with no history
- 5Is it reasonable to rent an apartment on my own?
- 2How to get a tax ID or business account without a permanent address?
- 2How much credit history do lenders actually require for approval?