George Kamel - I Tried Renting An Apartment With Zero Credit Score

Episode Date: January 8, 2024

You may have heard it’s impossible to rent an apartment or a house without a good credit score. But is this true? What if you don’t have a credit score at all? In today’s video, I call rentals across the country to ask them directly. Links: Preorder George Kamel’s new book, Breaking Free From Broke, and get more than $100 in FREE bonus items. EveryDollar budget deal: I love a good deal, and when you sign up using this link, I’ll hook you up with a 14-day free trial and $15 off your first year of the premium version of EveryDollar. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Hey, hey, come here, gotta tell you something. Closer. You too. Come on, buddy. You don't need a credit score. Yeah, I said it. I said it quietly. I said it loudly. You don't need it. And I know some of you are already rolling up your little sleevies, getting ready to drop some hate in the comments, telling me all the reasons you think you need a credit score.

But you know what? I'm not mad at you. You probably have just been told something that isn't true, and you believed it. Like when your parents told you that gum takes seven years to digest. Not true at all. And the proof, it's in the pudding. if you know what I mean. I regret, I regret it. As soon as I said it, I regret it.

Here's a good example. A lot of people seem to think you can't rent an apartment or house without a good credit score, but there is just simply no evidence to back this up. Now sure, a bad or low score can hurt your chances, or at least the terms, but not having a score at all is completely different and widely accepted. And to prove it, today I'm going to call some rentals across the country and ask them directly.

But before we jump in, do me a favor and subscribe to the channel, like this video, and share it with all of your friends who still think their abdominal bloating is due to wads of undigested Big League chew. First up, let's call an apartment complex in Austin, Texas. Home to South by Southwest, the original Schlotsky's, and generally just the weirdest little town in Texas. Hey, I'm just doing some apartment research,

and I was wondering, since I don't have a credit score, is it still worth applying with you guys? Well, you should be fine if you don't have any debt. Give me two moments while I pull this up just to make sure. Where are you coming from? Nashville. Okay, what's bringing in Boston? Just work.

Everything's letting it once. I really do apologize. Oh, it's okay. But we will get there. I believe in us. They ain't believe in us. God, dude. So it's three times base rent for any apartment.

So if the studio is $2,000, I would need to make $6,000 gross per month in order to rent. Correct. So if I don't have a score at all, does that affect it? That will be your increased deposit, and it's probably going to be one base rent amount. So you pay one upfront month of rent as a deposit? Yes, sir, yes. There we go. We already got a win in Austin, Texas.

You got to make three times the rent, which is very reasonable, and you have to pay up front one month rent. Big whoop. All right, let's try this again in the city that never sleeps, the big apple. The city's so nice, they named it twice. New York, New York. I'm just doing some apartment research right now, but I don't have a credit score. Is it worth still applying with you guys? Yeah, that's okay.

You just need to prove that you make 38 times a month. monthly rent. What was it? How much? 38 times the monthly rent. What is the average rent over there? I couldn't see it on the website. Our studios are starting around like 3,800 right now a month. 3,800. So in this instance, 3,800 times 38, so I need to make $144,000 a year on the tax return? Right. Okay. So it's more about income than the actual credit history and credit score itself. Yeah, exactly. Okay. Is there any higher deposit or anything, or is the same? No, there's not a higher deposit. Awesome. Okay. Yeah, of course. Have a good way. Thanks. Well, one thing I learned is that it's wildly expensive to live in New York City. The rent is $3,800, and we got to make 38 times that in our

gross income a year in order to rent there. But hey, it is possible to rent without a credit score. You just need to make a freak ton of money to rent a wonderful apartment in New York City, but no shocker there. And to keep it close to home, let's try one right here in my neck of the woods in Nashville, Tennessee. I'm just doing some apartment research right now, but I don't have a credit score because I don't have any debt. Is it worth still applying with you guys? I would think so. Let me actually get you transferred up to the leasing office. They'd be able to answer that better for you. Okay. Thank you. Not the triple ring. Thank you for calling. You have reached the voicemail for our leasing team. Please leave it. Hey, this is George Collinback. I couldn't get through to the

leasing office. It went to a voicemail. Let me get you transferred to our resident manager. She should be able to answer that for you as well. Okay. Thank you. I don't have a credit score because I don't have any dead. Can I still apply with you guys? That is a great question. Thank you. Let me double check. Hold on just a second, okay? Okay. Five minutes later. So you could have someone co-signed with you who does have credit or we could just collect a higher deposit. Oh, okay, great. What would the higher deposit be comparatively to the normal deposit? It's usually one month rent at least compared to like $500. Okay, cool. So other than that, it would just go through fine without a credit score. That's correct. Okay, thanks. Bye-bye.

So there you go. Right here at my home of Nashville, Tennessee, you just need a higher deposit if you want to rent without a credit score. And just in case you're not a city slicker and you're not convinced yet, let's go to the heartbeat of America, Greenfield, Indiana. I'm wondering if I can apply with you guys if I don't have a credit score. You can. So the only thing that would do is you would get a little bit of a higher deposit. So deposits range from $500 to $750. So if you don't have any credit at all, it would be the $750 that you would pay for the deposit.

Oh, that's easy. Okay, that helps me a lot. Bye. That's it. Kind of anticlimactic, to be honest. Like when you visit the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Okay, so there's the tower. Looks like it's leaning.

Now what? Take a picture that looks like I'm holding it up. I was kind of hoping to put up a little fight, make a stink about it, raise some heck. But you know what? I'm just glad we can officially debunk this myth once and for all. You don't need a credit score to rent a house or an apartment. You just need to be employed, pass a background check,

and have enough money to cover a potentially higher security deposit, which you get back when you move out. Big whoop. But listen, don't just walk into an apartment complex with a debit card and expect to not run into any obstacles. Some complexes require you to have a third-party guarantor if you don't have a credit score, but I don't recommend co-signers.

So make sure you call around, do some research, but be flexible. There's other apartment fish in the sea. That's what they always say, right? Bro, what are you talking about, man? So if you can rent an apartment with a credit score or without one, why does it matter to me so much to live without one?

Well, here's why. Because it means I don't have to play the game that requires me to keep debt hanging around. I'm trying to live a debt-free lifestyle over here. Why should I use debt to pay for things I can afford with cash just to maintain a number that helps me get more debt? It just doesn't make sense. Plus, it just makes things simpler. When you don't have a credit score, you don't have to worry about constantly checking on it with those credit tracking apps or trying to improve it with these weird hacks you see on social media. With some intentionality and good financial standing, you can do all the things you thought you couldn't do without that little three-digit number for validation. Will it take a little more effort? Sure, but it's a heck of a lot better than

owing other people money for the rest of your life and playing this insane game. Bottom line, it's more than possible to live without a credit score. And not just live, but live better. Or from my Taco Bell fan slash Spanish IP viewers, live moss. If you want to learn more about how to live a life without a credit score, I devoted a whole chapter to this in my new book called Breaking Free from Broke, the ultimate guide to more money and less stress. You can get your copy with the link in the description below or go to ramsysolutions.com slash store. And let me know in the comments if you'd like to see more videos about how to live life without credit.

Like, I don't know, how to rent a car at the Knoxville airport without a credit card. Things like that. Apparently, uh, this guy's had some problems. We've got to get to the bottom of this. As always, don't forget to hit the like button on this video, subscribe to the channel, and share this video with all of your friends who are needlessly chasing that high credit score, which is almost as sad as chasing the validation of strangers on YouTube. Which I would never do.

but please hit the like button because it's all I have. Thanks for watching. We'll see you next time. It's the only joy I get anymore.