Renting advice

Sundaygirl211 · #1 (**permalink**) 11th July 2012, 03:27 PM

Hi, we have sold up in the UK and will be moving to Canada in the next month. We have seen a house on Kijiji that we would like to rent and our family locally have viewed it for us. Our concern is that the house owner wants to run credit checks on us but how does that work if we have no credit history in Canada?

We are coming without jobs as we both took voluntary redundancy so we are going to spend a few months taking it easy. So obviously we also won't be able to show proof of income either.

Has anyone else encountered the credit check problem and can it be overcome?

And one last final question - should we negotiate the rent or is that not the done thing?

Many thanks

Kate

mikejb · #2 (**permalink**) 11th July 2012, 07:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sundaygirl211

Hi, we have sold up in the UK and will be moving to Canada in the next month. We have seen a house on Kijiji that we would like to rent and our family locally have viewed it for us. Our concern is that the house owner wants to run credit checks on us but how does that work if we have no credit history in Canada?

We are coming without jobs as we both took voluntary redundancy so we are going to spend a few months taking it easy. So obviously we also won't be able to show proof of income either.

Has anyone else encountered the credit check problem and can it be overcome?

And one last final question - should we negotiate the rent or is that not the done thing?

Many thanks

Kate

Hi Kate

Firstly,

Rent in Canada as in most places in the world are dictated by market forces. The more demand there is the higher the rent will be. It is therefore not possible for anyone here to be able to say if or not the rental figure you have been given can be neogotiated though I think most would agree, it would be foolish not to try. It might also help to maybe get one of your relatives to make some enquiries about rental costs for that area. If this can't be done then a call to one of the local realtors should assist as they will know their markets better than most

On this point, they are also better in a position to help with advice re credit checks as it is more than likely they will have come across similar in the past.

It may also be worthwhile getting yours and your husbands UK credit check which MIGHT possibly be used for someone like your future landlord. However, my experience is, canadian institutions take no notice of these UK credit checks. WHy/? I do not know, I just know they don't.

It might also be of help if you are using say HSBC bank in the UK and you plan to continue to use them in Canada.

Good luck

Sundaygirl211 · #3 (**permalink**) 12th July 2012, 07:59 AM

Thanks for replying. We spoke to the owner again last night and he seems to be ok with the credit check situation. He said that having met my father in law he was certain we were good people!

Now today's job is containers - I'll be posting a question about that too.

Thanks again

DavidHudson · #4 (**permalink**) 12th July 2012, 02:26 PM

Hi was going to reply yesterday but got caught up with stuff. My wife and I moved to vancouver without jobs last year and worried about the credit check. As you found once the landlord meets you or your family they take a view. If you can confidently explain your situation and provide dated cheques in our experience the credit check is not needed. Depends on the landlord but we found that with independent landlords and corporate ones. You still have to sign the tendency agreement which protects both sides anyway.

emma329 · #5 (**permalink**) 13th July 2012, 10:51 AM

I spoke to HSBC and they say that having a bank account in uk won't help matters when opening a Canadian account.They work totally different apparently x

DavidHudson · #6 (**permalink**) 13th July 2012, 02:34 PM

Hi Emma not sure I fit makes a difference but we are HSBC premier customers. Just means you have a certain upfront amount saved or in your account. We had a uk account and as permanent residents opened a Canadian account which was simple with our landing papers and passports. You can then link the two through their online world view system. We found the Canadian manager helpful and got a credit card and rating very quickly. You are right they are separate accounts and systems but they can be linked.