My Apartment

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My sister name is on my apartment lease, cuz I didn’t have a credit score 7 years ago. Do you still need credit to rent an apartment? Can I remove my sister name from my apartment lease? We REALLY REALLY DON’T GET ALONG.

Most apartment landlords will check applicant's credit history and look for a Credit Score value which, at least to them, indicates the person is responsible and pays their bills.

You can't typically remove someone who co-signed a lease. You can apply for a new lease when the current lease expires. Your credit score and income level will still have to be good enough to meet the requirements of the landlord or property management company though. Otherwise you may not qualify without a co-signer.

In my country(Israel), most landlords require a co-signer unless you can pay about 3 months in advance of the rent price. Sometimes they are more forgiving or decide to be friendly with you, so they would skip this requirement, but that is kinda rare.

Its not easy to rent an apartment these days. Thats something I can agree with. Maybe in your country the situation is even worse?

Lack of a credit history (credit cards, loans, etc.) can make your score lower than having a few bad pieces in one's credit history. So the questions regarding credit are more like "how have you managed your credit in the past (& you must have some)", "what is your current debt load & what kind (college, medical, maxed out credit cards, etc.) of debt", & "what are your current income/earnings compared to your on-going debt & the costs of the apartment".

It's risk assessment & minimization.

It is possible to get someone off a lease, but it's up to who one rent's from if they allow it. I was the one let off a lease. My apartment-mate had to qualify for the full rent on his own. We both had to sign off on letting me out of the lease. Some landlords will require an entirely new lease instead, which frequently means paying the application fee so the leasing company can check credit.

Also, there's no guarantee that you'd get the same rent deal on the apartment you're in now, but California's rental laws can be very different.

I am very responsible with my money, I been very responsible with money since I was a teenager. For months, I been spending too much money more than usual, I’m learning again to save more money. I don’t buy things if I can’t afford them. With my credit card, I have a budget on how much I can spend, I pay my credit in the beginning of the month, to get it out of the way, I save the email saying my credit is paid so I can remember it.

I'd say the best way to find out is to talk to the management in their office.