Housing Tip: Communicating Your Criminal Background to a Landlord

Are you looking for felony friendly housing in Minneapolis, St Paul, or in Minnesota? Having a criminal background, particularly a felony, makes a rental housing search difficult. However, you can do a few things to give yourself a better chance of finding a place to live without wasting a lot of money on application fees.

Here they are: Know who you are
• What is your criminal background?
• What is your monthly income?
• What is your credit score?
• What is your rental history?

Get the landlord’s rental criteria in writing
• What past criminal activity does the landlord decline?
• How much income does her or she require?
• What credit scores will the landlord accept?
• What are their rental history requirements?

What should you do if you don’t meet the rental criteria?
• Briefly share what happened in your past (the criminal issue).
• Explain what you have done to improve your life or get over the issue.
• Ask the landlord to be flexible with their criteria.

Only apply for the apartment or pay an application fee if you meet all of the criteria. Talk with the landlord to confirm he or she will accept your criminal background and any other issues like bad credit or rental history.

CHECK TO SEE IF YOU ARE A FIT FOR BEYOND BACKGROUNDS
Beyond Backgrounds makes it more likely that a landlord will relax their screening criteria and rent to you! When a landlord rents to you, they get up to $2,000 of financial assurance if something goes wrong like damage to the unit or legal fees.

Click here to learn more about the program and see if you are a fit.