Does a Cosigner Need to Have Good Credit for an Apartment?

A landlord sometimes requires potential tenants to get a cosigner if they cannot qualify for a place on their own, but having a cosigner does not guarantee approval for anything. Thus, you should ask someone to cosign a loan if they have a history of responsible borrowing and repaying debt on time. You may even be able to avoid use of a cosigner altogether.

Identification

A cosigner should have good credit to help you qualify to rent an apartment. In general, a score of 620 is considered the cutoff for good credit for most creditors, according to Apartments.com. Some landlords might require a high credit score, especially for places in an expensive city, and the landlord might use the highest creditor when deciding between two equally qualified applicants.

Considerations

The landlord may not want you as a tenant even if you provide a cosigner with a good score, because creditors usually give the worst score the most weight in the approval process, according to Kimberly Lankford of "Kiplinger." In most states, a creditor must attempt to collect payment from the primary borrower first before pursuing the debt from a cosigner. Also, the landlord might not want to risk having to spend time tracking down a cosigner in case you cannot pay the bill.

Explaining Bad Credit

Ideally, you should clean up your credit history before apartment-hunting. Pull your report from Annual Credit Report and look for negative items, such as late payments and court judgments for an eviction, that might concert a landlord. Pay off as much of the debt in your history, especially credit card debt, and make minimum payments on time every month. You can also write a letter to the landlord explaining bad credit, such as if downsizing caused you to missed bills, but that you have corrected the issue.

Tip

Asking someone to cosign a loan is a huge liability for the him because he will have to pay your bill in case you can't. Instead, talk to the landlord about what you can offer to qualify for a place on your own. For instance, you can offer to prepay the entire lease upfront or several months in advance as a security deposit. You might need to downgrade to a cheaper place too.