Life After Foreclosure: 7 Tips for Finding a Rental

For the thousands of families affected by foreclosure, finding a new home can prove difficult and time-consuming. Many landlords require credit checks for tenants, which can seriously limit your options after defaulting on a mortgage. For those unlucky enough to fall in this transient category, Lynnette Khalfani-Cox from our sister site WalletPop shares seven secrets to finding a rental fast.

1. Investigate apartments online.

In recent years, a number of online apartment rating services have flourished, making it easier for prospective tenants to learn a lot about a housing unit prior to even seeing it in person. So before you hit the pavement to go apartment hunting, use a service like ApartmentRatings.com or ApartmentSearch.com to discover everything from how much the rental units cost each month to whether an apartment accepts pets.

Some sites also show comments posted by others about the apartments – including viewpoints on how safe the neighborhood is or how responsive management is to fixing problems. After a bit of online sleuthing, you should be able to weed out higher-priced places you know you can't afford. There's no sense in going from one costly housing situation to the next.