Can i get a mortgage with bad rental history?

Question

I was living in a duplex, private owner and I had a roommate(boyfriend) and we were both on the lease. I asked the landlord to take my name off the lease and she said no, I was responsible for the remaining months. I told her i had to move, she knew I was gone in December of 2006. However, the boyfriend stayed wrote a bad check and didn't pay on time. She took me to court even though she knew i didn't live there. The judgement is on my credit, the boyfriend has paid all but
$400 of $1750. I want to buy a house and it will show i have bad rental history. I was told to ask the landlord to write a letter verifying that i moved and didn't live there in Dec. 06 to July 07. I doubt she'll do it because of her unprofessionalism. How can I prove I didn't live there at the time of the bad payments and get a mortgage?

Answer 1

Your landlord was not unprofessional. She availed herself of her rights under contract law. When you signed the lease with your boyfriend, you BOTH became fully responsible for the full amount of the rents due.

TELLING her you that you were leaving did not relieve you of the financial responsibility for the rent payments. Sad to say, what is in your credit report is your own fault. You could have avoided this mess by settling the situation BEFORE you ended up in court. Now it is too late.

Answer 2

The first poster, Mandi, is flat-out wrong. (Although he has removed his post, so he probably realized that! The post that shows first now is correct.) The days of not checking previous housing payment are long gone.

A mortgage lender needs to get a two-year history of how you handled your housing expense. In some circumstances, a shorter time is required, but two years is the usual rule. And right now, everyone is following the rules.

If you rented, a "Verification of Rent" will be sent to your previous landlord. If it does not come back clean, the loan will be denied.

And the judgment will stay on your credit report for seven years. For at least four years, it will hurt you enough that you will likely not be able to get a conventional mortgage.

And, BTW, the previous posters are correct. You could have moved out whenever you wanted, but were still responsible for the lease (contract) you signed. One party to a contract cannot demand the other change the contract.

If you want a mortgage, do not tell the lender that you told the landlord to take your name off the lease and, when that didn't happen, you just walked away. Lenders NEVER give money to someone who has proven that she doesn't understand the concept of honoring obligations!

And, BTW, your landlord sounds very, very professional. She followed the written agreement that you had signed. She went to court, and got a judgment. An unprofessional landlord would have ignored the written agreement. You seem to be confused on what professional means. It doesn't mean doing whatever. It means following the written agreement. You're now asking her to lie for you. Again, the landlord is being professional by refusing to do that.

Answer 3

You went to court and were found guilty so the judgement is on your credit. It is far too late now to change that fact. You LOST in court. Whether you lived there or not did not matter since you were on the lease.
None of the info you have provided is important.
What will matter is what else your credit history looks like. You should pay the $400.
Your credit score will decide whether or not you get approval for a mortgage but it will most likely not happen as long as you have the outstanding $400 debt on your credit history. An otherwise bad rental history should not matter when applying for a mortgage.

Answer 4

Most mortgage companies don't look at rental history - they look at credit and income. You shouldn't have a problem if those two things are fine.

Answer 5

what acermill said