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While you’ll have an uphill battle, here are some things you can do to get a landlord to accept you.

Having bad credit and a history of not paying on time can make it challenging to find a landlord willing to choose you as a tenant. But having no credit at all can present a challenge as well. Why? Because with no credit history, a landlord has no clue whether you’ll pay the rent on time.

This increases their risk, and many won’t be willing to take a chance and would rather wait for someone with full credit history instead.

Don’t let this discourage you, however. We all have to start somewhere with building credit, and you can use other methods to overcome having no history, such as these:

Wait Until You Can Save Several Months’ Worth of Rent

Can you stay with friends or family until you save up some money? If so, this could help you overcome a lack of credit history by using those savings to offer several months of rent.

By offering cash upfront, you show the landlord that you’re serious. You also reduce their risk, which can urge them to bypass any credit check.

Show Sufficient Income

You may lack credit history, but your steady income shows that you can afford the rent. You’ll have to prove this with evidence in the form of pay stubs, bank statements, and W2 forms.

As for how much income is enough, landlords tend to look for income equal to 2.5 times the monthly rent.

Stay Away From Property Managers and Rental Companies

You want to jump through as few hoops as possible since you have no credit. For this reason, skip on any places run by large rental companies or property managers. They will likely require credit checks, along with a host of other things that will make it tough to get approved.

On the other hand, if you can find an individual landlord who needs to rent their property quickly for some cash, that’s your best bet. Since they’ll be more aggressive in finding a tenant, they may not care that you lack credit history if you can provide some of the other things in this list to reduce their risk.

Prove Yourself With a Month-to-Month Lease

Renting to someone with no credit history via a long-term lease is very risky for a landlord. However, renting on a month-to-month basis is less risky and gives you a chance to prove yourself. Ask the landlord if they can start you on a one-month lease, and build from there.

Show Proof of Income

Look for places where you make 2.5 times the monthly rent in income. Why? Because that’s the income landlords usually deem sufficient from prospective tenants.

If you can show you make such income by providing W2 forms, pay stubs, and bank statements, that may be all you need to get approved, even without a credit check.

Get a Roommate or Co-signer

You may not have a credit history yet, but you probably have a friend or family member that does. If they don’t mind signing the lease, you can use their credit to move into that apartment, as long as you pay on time to keep their financial history clean.

A co-signer arrangement isn’t ideal for the person signing their name, as it brings a lot of risks.
A similar arrangement is to get a roommate with good credit. Since they’ll be living in the unit, they’ll be more likely to sign the lease and allow you to live there.