No credit history. How to get an appartment in SF.

December 28, 2005 4:16 AM

I just moved to San Francisco from Guadalajara, and have no credit history or bank account. How can I get a place to rent? A cell phone?

Currently I'm staying a friend's appartment in the Inner Richmond, but this will be over soon. My wife will be joining me in late February, and I need a place of my own.

I never did any banking in Mexico, I have no credit history whatsoever. People from Craiglist I've called say it is no use to fill an application without a credit report.

With cellphones, they are asking for a deposit of up to $1,000!!!

Do you have any suggestions or experience on how I can get a place to rent and a cellphone with my non-existant credit history?

Also, do you have a bank favourite bank in SF you can recommend?

Thank you in advance.

posted by Dataphage to Work & Money (7 answers total)

Try a pre-paid plan cellphone, you can go to any wal-mart, staples, best buy, or MANY other stores and get one of these, then you can pay for your airtime online or over the phone with a credit card or get top-up cards at the local supermarket or convenience store.
posted by By The Grace of God at 4:27 AM on December 28, 2005

Same situation a few years back in Berkeley. Didn't really have a problem with it, and got to rent our first pick. The super, who showed us the place, vouched for us to the landlord and the lack of credit history was not an issue.
If you have a SSN, you can open a bank account with Washington Mutual, for free, or at least that's the way it was a few years ago.
posted by signal at 4:41 AM on December 28, 2005

Get a secured credit card and start building a credit history.
posted by intermod at 5:05 AM on December 28, 2005

Does your wife have any credit history?
posted by bcwinters at 5:27 AM on December 28, 2005

No credit report and no credit history are two different things. If you have a SSN, you can get a credit report, it just won't show anything. Some people may balk at renting to you with that, others will understand you have to start somewhere and will give you a shot.

In my experience, renting from a person, rather than a rental agency/property management company, is often a lot more relaxed.
posted by jcruden at 6:15 AM on December 28, 2005

Yeah, it shouldn't be too big of a deal, just tell the person you're interested in renting from that you just moved and don't have a credit history before seeing the apartment. For cheap places, it won't be a big deal, but for the more upscale places it will be.

That said, paying you're rent on time will probably not affect your credit rating too much.
posted by delmoi at 8:18 AM on December 28, 2005

If you have a permanent job or are going to school, get a letter from your boss / registration office / whatever stating your name, etc, that you are employed/student and will continue to be, etc, and a contact number, so the landlord will be confident you won't just skip out of the country in a few months owing him back-rent.
posted by signal at 8:35 AM on December 28, 2005