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Rent a partement for new immigrants

Tamer1982

Tamer1982

Member
Hello all,
Thank for every one here helped me untill i got finally my immigrant visa.
But there is a question in my mind.if i want to rent a partement for me and my family before or once i will go to the USA..
Is there any way to do that without any credit history made or SSN,and green card had not received.?? What are the best solutions for doing that??
 
Tamer1982 said:
Hello all,
Thank for every one here helped me untill i got finally my immigrant visa.
But there is a question in my mind.if i want to rent a partement for me and my family before or once i will go to the USA..
Is there any way to do that without any credit history made or SSN,and green card had received.?? What are the best solutions for doing that??
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Hi Tamer,
This is a difficulty for many new immigrants especially if you don't have a job yet. There are some agencies /buildings where all apartments managed by same company - it's better to avoid these as they usually have an inflexible approach to what they require (ie: no credit score = no rental). A private landlord who you can meet personally is probably better. In such a case they may require a bit extra deposit or (as happened with us) just want to see a copy of a bank statement that shows you have 2-6 (depending on landlord) months worth of rental in it.

By the way your SSN should come pretty soon after you land.

I would strongly advise that you DON'T rent anything before you arrive and can actually see the property. Sometimes people get scammed trying to do this (usually in the scam the apartment exists but the person claiming to own it doesn't and just takes your deposit and first months rent and disappears back into cyberspace) and sometimes they find a genuine rental does exist but is much worse than the photos show, has junkies hanging around outside, or other problems. It may cost a bit more in the short term to get a cheap hotel while you apartment hunt, but it could save you a lot of money and aggravation in the long run!
 
Hi Susie,
Thanks for your reply.
So how can i find these private landlord?And exactly what you advice me to do?Do you recommend a long staying hotels?
By the way i have relative living in new York.he is American citizen.but i don't want to live in new York.is can help?
 
Tamer1982 said:
Hi Susie,
Thanks for your reply.
So how can i find these private landlord?And exactly what you advice me to do?Do you recommend a long staying hotels?
By the way i have relative living in new York.he is American citizen.but i don't want to live in new York.is can help?
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If you're going to be spending say a few weeks looking for an apartment, then a long stay hotel is definitely an option. Some of them have discounts if you stay longer than 2 weeks. (And some of them claim to have discounts but the price is the same! So just check all details carefully). Most hotels will take cancellation on 24 hours so even if you say book a 4 week stay but find an apartment and leave after 2 you won't pay for usually more than a day more than you've actually stayed. So you're not tied down either.

You'll have to look at rental listings to find an apartment/landlord, we found ours on Craigslist. There are a number of websites, the big national ones like Zillow, Trulia etc have rentals as well as homes for sale on their websites. Some sites are city specific as well. There is a website called city-data.com which has forums on many cities/regions, and you'd probably be able to ask on there in the relevant forum if there are any particular websites that locals use to list rentals.

I'm not sure if your relative can help - it's possible if he will act as a guarantor (if he's willing, he'd probably have to show his credit record for this) but again that will depend on landlord and if you're in a different state they may not accept that.
 
Susie has given some great advice here. f you want to rent in an apartment complex your relative can be your guarantor if he has a good credit history indeed. I suggest looking for private owners who rent directly to you as these are much more flexible then businesses. If you don't want to be in N.Y., get a long stay hotel room at your desired state/city then use the time to look on Craig's list for private owners renting their property. You will soon learn how to spot them among the businesses. Go see the places, talk to the owner and show him/her that you are a family man who doesn't care for partying or drugs etc., and that should make things much easier.

You should be careful of two things; protect your SSN and try your best not to give it to any landlords who will want it to run a criminal background check on you. Those are normal citizens who might not have the required knowledge or ability to safe-keep your SSN, which might lead to identity theft if it falls in the wrong hands. Just speak to the owner and show them that you have just landed in America, meaning that you have been screened by the government and thus a criminal background check is not needed. The second thing to be careful about it scams. Don't send money to anyone who has a place to rent and always meet them and pay in person after checking out the legitimacy of the deal. If someone claims to be out of the country or the state and tells you they will send you the key after you send the money it is most likely a scammer. I met a lot of these when I was looking.

It's not easy to do it on your own, but it's not impossible. I did it on my own too. The easier way is if your relatives know someone who knows someone etc. so you'd be dealing with people who have some measure of trust in you. I also know immigrants who headed to the local mosque or church and asked about places to rent, and they were put in touch with landlords who understand the difficulties facing new immigrants. Whatever it is, just enjoy the adventure and don't worry too much. People here are mostly generous and kind, and you will find your way one way or another.
 
rafi-cairo said:
Susie has given some great advice here. f you want to rent in an apartment complex your relative can be your guarantor if he has a good credit history indeed. I suggest looking for private owners who rent directly to you as these are much more flexible then businesses. If you don't want to be in N.Y., get a long stay hotel room at your desired state/city then use the time to look on Craig's list for private owners renting their property. You will soon learn how to spot them among the businesses. Go see the places, talk to the owner and show him/her that you are a family man who doesn't care for partying or drugs etc., and that should make things much easier.

You should be careful of two things; protect your SSN and try your best not to give it to any landlords who will want it to run a criminal background check on you. Those are normal citizens who might not have the required knowledge or ability to safe-keep your SSN, which might lead to identity theft if it falls in the wrong hands. Just speak to the owner and show them that you have just landed in America, meaning that you have been screened by the government and thus a criminal background check is not needed. The second thing to be careful about it scams. Don't send money to anyone who has a place to rent and always meet them and pay in person after checking out the legitimacy of the deal. If someone claims to be out of the country or the state and tells you they will send you the key after you send the money it is most likely a scammer. I met a lot of these when I was looking.

It's not easy to do it on your own, but it's not impossible. I did it on my own too. The easier way is if your relatives know someone who knows someone etc. so you'd be dealing with people who have some measure of trust in you. I also know immigrants who headed to the local mosque or church and asked about places to rent, and they were put in touch with landlords who understand the difficulties facing new immigrants. Whatever it is, just enjoy the adventure and don't worry too much. People here are mostly generous and kind, and you will find your way one way or another.
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I'm sorry, but the advice about not giving the SSN and telling people that a background check is not needed is not great advice. As a landlord myself, I can tell you that someone following this advice would be MORE suspicious to me.

I'm not a fan of handing out my SSN to anyone that asks for it - but at some point it is reasonable and perfectly normal to provide it to a landlord. As a renter you need to use some common sense. You need to be sure the person you are dealing with is genuine, and if you don't know how to make those judgements, then you are better dealing with a reputable realtor or rental agency.

Contacts made through relatives or churches are a great way to go.
 
Britsimon said:
I'm sorry, but the advice about not giving the SSN and telling people that a background check is not needed is not great advice.
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1- An SSN is not required to run a background check, so when I advise him to try his best not to give it to individual landlords it's a prudent advice. Look at this https://www.corelogic.com/downloadable-docs/myth-buster-screening-applicants-without-ssn.pdf

2- A fresh immigrant who has just landed after a through background check can use this to put minds at ease. Actually if a landlord still insists on running a background check after making this point and proving that I've just been screened, I'd move on to someone else to save time and money because background checks are not free. This is based on first hand experience with 6 landlords when I first arrived, all but one were perfectly happy that a background check is unnecessary. Of course a credit check for a new immigrant is redundant since he/she has zero history.
 
rafi-cairo said:
1- An SSN is not required to run a background check, so when I advise him to try his best not to give it to individual landlords it's a prudent advice. Look at this https://www.corelogic.com/downloadable-docs/myth-buster-screening-applicants-without-ssn.pdf

2- A fresh immigrant who has just landed after a through background check can use this to put minds at ease. Actually if a landlord still insists on running a background check after making this point and proving that I've just been screened, I'd move on to someone else to save time and money because background checks are not free. This is based on first hand experience with 6 landlords when I first arrived, all but one were perfectly happy that a background check is unnecessary. Of course a credit check for a new immigrant is redundant since he/she has zero history.
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I've never heard of a background check for a rental agreement? For jobs yes, but then the employer usually pays for that. Admittedly we only rented one property in the US but I've seen a few standard agreements and while they all mention a credit check I didn't see any about background checks.

Most US-born citizens have no idea what is required for an immigrant visa, so I'm not sure saying "I just had a background check by uscis" would help in the event one is required. To be fair most of the immigrants don't even know what goes into their background check. Probably as you say just best to move onto another landlord anyway.
 
Any way i decided to stay in long staying hotels.untill i see the whole image there and find what i want.

But one more advice please.i planning to stay at Orlando FL.or kissimee FL.as my whole experience in hospitality and Four Seasons hotels. is this location is good to find a job.i heard that Florida is the touristic state in USA.so i put it as a first option.what do you think??
 
Tamer1982 said:
Any way i decided to stay in long staying hotels.untill i see the whole image there and find what i want.

But one more advice please.i planning to stay at Orlando FL.or kissimee FL.as my whole experience in hospitality and Four Seasons hotels. is this location is good to find a job.i heard that Florida is the touristic state in USA.so i put it as a first option.what do you think??
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Orlando Fl is definitely a good city for the hospitality industry. Kissimmee is ok too. Vegas NV is the top ranked city in that industry though. You should be alright in Orlando.
 
Tamer1982 said:
Any way i decided to stay in long staying hotels.untill i see the whole image there and find what i want.

But one more advice please.i planning to stay at Orlando FL.or kissimee FL.as my whole experience in hospitality and Four Seasons hotels. is this location is good to find a job.i heard that Florida is the touristic state in USA.so i put it as a first option.what do you think??
Click to expand...
Sm1smom said:
Orlando Fl is definitely a good city for the hospitality industry. Kissimmee is ok too. Vegas NV is the top ranked city in that industry though. You should be alright in Orlando.
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Vegas is definitely not for everyone... and while there's lots of touristy stuff there's not much else. It's also a certain "type" of tourism. While it's trying to become more family friendly, it's still a lot of adult-oriented entertainment, as well as a lot of conferences. That said, a lot of the hotels are high-end hotels so Four Seasons experience is probably quite useful there. Still, overall I'd probably suggest Florida as just a nicer place to live in general. Also, apart from the Orlando-Kissimee area there is Miami Beach, and also various coastal areas - like Delray Beach, Boca Raton, Ft Lauderdale etc, even down as far as the Keys, that are tourist orientated.

Long stay hotels include places like Extended Stay America, Hyatt House, Marriott Residence Inn. They tend to not be in the most touristy parts of places but are usually pretty conveniently located (often close to freeways for getting around easily and generally not too far from where you might need to be). Wherever you end up, one of the first things you'd need to do would be to get yourself a drivers license.
 
Thank you Susie,
Me also like any place in Florida more than Vegas.at least the good wheather which is smiler to my home country wheather.and many others reasons.any way i found Florida is good place to lives.
 
rafi-cairo said:
1- An SSN is not required to run a background check, so when I advise him to try his best not to give it to individual landlords it's a prudent advice. Look at this https://www.corelogic.com/downloadable-docs/myth-buster-screening-applicants-without-ssn.pdf

2- A fresh immigrant who has just landed after a through background check can use this to put minds at ease. Actually if a landlord still insists on running a background check after making this point and proving that I've just been screened, I'd move on to someone else to save time and money because background checks are not free. This is based on first hand experience with 6 landlords when I first arrived, all but one were perfectly happy that a background check is unnecessary. Of course a credit check for a new immigrant is redundant since he/she has zero history.
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My perpective is based on 30+ years as a landlord and my wife being a qualified realtor.

Depending on the type of agency, some will insist on an SSN, some won't. But all of them will be made nervous by and applicant that does not want to comply with their standard procedures and starts lecturing the agent/landlord about new immigrant checks and why SSN isn't the only way to look someone up. In markets where there are more renters than rentals, they will tell you to look somewhere else. One reason landlords will want SSN etc is the fact that they want to be able to report against you in case of a default (it is one of their only "weapons").

So - blanket advice such as that you are giving, or trying to prepare new immigrants to "educate" landlords/agents is, again, not good advice. Better to tell people to do all they can to prepare properly. Things like:

  • Show credit history (or even the police certs used at the interview) from the old country.
  • Have someone such as a friend or family member to vouch for the renter. A letter of recommendation from someone already here can be useful.
  • Be upfront about the fact that the SSN search will show as a ghost (no credit history), but be willing to allow a credit search.
  • Adjust the rental location search to those places that will rent to people with no credit history. If you bring that up early in the conversation it will save time in dealing with some agents that have inflexible rules (as opposed to telling them why their rules make no sense).
 
Britsimon said:
Depending on the type of agency,
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I made it very clear that I am referring to individual landlords, not agencies.

My perpective is based on 30+ years as a landlord and my wife being a qualified realtor.
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You remain a single person, and your views are not representative of the totality. If you are saying that every landlord out there will follow your exact methodology then you are grossly unrealistic, and if you say not all of them will then you agree with me.

all of them will be made nervous
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And you were talking about blanket statement? I'm afraid you can't tell what ALL people will feel about a perfectly debatable stance.

their standard procedures
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Agencies and businesses have have standard procedures. When he searches he will meet the the mother renting out her recently married son's apartment, the housewife who's father died and left her a house, or the family man who's just converted his garage into a one bedroom place to help paying the bills. These and many other individuals have no "standard procedures".

and starts lecturing the agent/landlord
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Cordially explaining to an individual that you would rather not give your SSN to protect yourself and save time and money then showing them that you've just been screened by the government can only result in a pleasant conversation even if your proposition is not accepted. No reasonable person would take offence or consider it a lecture. Framing it as a combative act against the landlord is quite nonsensical and a sign that you are the one becoming combative. I thought we are after giving the best advice to people, not in some cyber clash of egos.

(it is one of their only "weapons")
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Then you know there are other weapons. This makes your entire sentence redundant since you explicitly state that there are alternatives, which is what I've said before.

Adjust the rental location search to those places that will rent to people with no credit history.
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Then you are obviously aware that in a country of more than 10 million undocumented immigrants, a vast number of landlords do rent without a "standard procedure" or requiring an SSN. Doesn't fit your previous assertions.

Show credit history (or even the police certs used at the interview) from the old country.
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Not all countries have a credit history system, and there will be the language barrier. You were not happy with showing them that the US screens immigrants which should take a few clicks on google, yet you think it's practical to show them a translation they can't even verify of a credit history or a police certificate from another country. Not a very coherent advice, is it?

I've done my best here, so don't take it personally if I no more engage in this back and forth. I'm beginning to think that this might be about saying the last word even if facts and basic logic are the victim, and I don't indulge in this. Have a good one.
 
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Tamer1982 said:
Florida more than Vegas.at least the good wheather which is smiler to my home country wheather.and many others reasons.any way i found Florida is good place to lives.
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If you are a fellow Egyptian as your name indicates, then know that weather here is quite different. It rains a lot (although this year we are having a dry spell), and the sun is much more burning in summer, my guess is due to the clearer air :p Susie's advice about the nature of hospitality jobs here vs Las Vegas is spot on. Good luck!
 
Yes I'm Egyptian and living in Saudi Arabia so i think the weather is not a big difference.
So are you agree with Susie that Florida is better than las vegas.??
Are you living in Florida?
 
Tamer1982 said:
So are you agree with Susie that Florida is better than las vegas.??
Are you living in Florida?
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Absolutely, and I think she very intelligently took cultural sensitivities in consideration. I live between Kissimmee, Melbourne, and West Palm Beach. If I can ever be of assistance please send me a private message :)
 
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