Posted by Rob on June 16, 2001 at 22:56:55:
Darla:
Give me a call at 415 716-8261 on Sunday early morning.
I have a friend that may be able to help. No guarantees, but some hope, at least. Don’t know his critera.
Rob
Family desperately needs house - Posted by Darla Cosby
Posted by Darla Cosby on June 16, 2001 at 12:24:19:
My family lives in Elk Grove, Ca. and recently received a 30-day notice to vacate our rental because the owner will be moving in. Unfortunately, the market is very tight on rentals in this area right now and we’ve not been able to find another house to rent.
My husband and I both hold very reliable, full-time jobs and have great references. Unfortunately, last year my husband lost his construction business of a client that didn’t pay, and with that came some credit problems - no one will even consider talking to us.
We have two weeks to find someplace to live or we will be homeless. I have two children, ages 11 and 15. We are all very hard workers, with many years experience in building and remodeling (my husband’s trade). We will consider anything, but would prefer something within and hour’s drive from Sacramento, California. Can anyone help us out with and abandoned house, fixer-upper - ANYTHING? We would consider buying or selling.
PLEASE HELP!
Help me understand something… - Posted by JGoodsen
Posted by JGoodsen on June 17, 2001 at 12:12:48:
You say the Sacramento market is tight and you can’t find a place to rent. I pulled up the Sacramento Bee and in the Classified Section in Elk Grove/Laguna Homes for Rent alone there are 23 ads. I didn’t bother to count the houses in the other sections of towns, nor the ads for apartments or multis in Elk Grove or other parts of town.
Is there more to the story?
I know of some resources in the area, but before I start activating them inquiring minds have got to know.
Re: Family desperately needs house - Posted by Darla
Posted by Darla on June 16, 2001 at 23:00:32:
I’d like to apologize to the members of this message board and to Potash. My previous outburst came from two dissappointing weeks of house hunting. I do understand why anyone would be critical of someone who wants something for nothing. I don’t. I’m not asking for money, food or anything else for free. Just 6 months or a year in a place to live with my family so we can get on our feet again.
I have worked hard all my life to make a life for myself and my family. Some times have been better than others. I will make it through one way or the other. I was just hoping for a small break along the way.
Darla
Really? - Posted by Potash
Posted by Potash on June 16, 2001 at 18:48:48:
Do you expect people to believe there are no rentals anywhere within 30 minutes of Sacramento? Obviously you do. And it does’nt surprise me that there are people that believe you. But, I know your type well. You’re always calling me on one of my ‘for rent’ ads, with the same sob story, about how your landlord is selling the property (or moving in himself, or leasing it to relatives, etc…), and that you have to move as soon as possible. But low and behold you have no money! You ask if I’ll “work with you” on the deposit. If it gets to the point that I check your credit, I find that you are in the process of eviction, or that your husband just got released from jail. In spite of all this, I agree to rent you one of my marginal apartments (clean, safe, but in a lower income area of town). We set an appointment to sign the lease, but you never show up (or call), because you are too good to live there!! 
Re: Family desperately needs house - Posted by SteveS(CPA)
Posted by SteveS(CPA) on June 16, 2001 at 17:17:18:
Darla,
I live in L.A. I’m truly sorry to hear about your situation.
Have you tried looking a little futher outside of your area. Also, try talking to some FSBO. You may be able to do a L/O or take over a property subject to. Most of the time they do not ask for a credit report, but if they do just explain what happen.
If you are still having problems email me and I may know a realtor up there who can help you find something.
Good luck girl
Re: Family desperately needs house - Posted by Donna, ATL
Posted by Donna, ATL on June 16, 2001 at 14:21:56:
Darla,
I live in GA, so I don’t know CA rental law, but depending on whether you have a lease and the terms of that lease, your landlord may not have the legal right to force you to move with a 30 day notice. In GA, if there is no lease in writing, the law requires a 60 day notice from a landlord, and, if the terms of the lease happen to be in violation of CA law, you may have longer. This happened to me years ago, and I moved, but discovered later that I could have taken up to 60 days, since we did not have a lease in writing. I hope this helps. I would also check the local papers for rentals. You might also want to consider taking over payments of an owner in a trailer park who wants to sell. There are lots of people wanting to sell mobile homes that are set up in parks. You can usually just take over existing payments. My experience has been that most sellers don’t even want a downpayment. You may have to drive through some parks and look for for sale signs. Also, the park manager will probably need to be notified of the sale. I hope some of this helps!
Re: Help me understand something… - Posted by Darla
Posted by Darla on June 17, 2001 at 13:20:47:
Yes, there are many rentals listed. Unfortunately, as I said before, our credit is the problem. With my husband’s business problems and some other old credit problems I have filled out MANY applications for those rentals, but no one will talk to us. I have called on nearly every ad in the area (and beyond) as well as property management agencies and everyone wants to run a credit check. I don’t blame them, there are plenty of good renters out there that they don’t need to rent to people with credit problems.
We don’t have anything on our report that talks about what good renters we are…most people don’t care after seeing the credit rating (we even have good references). We are very good at remodeling and repairing homes as that is my husband’s business. We’ve even looked at travel trailers to put in a park, still considering some. Most are selling for $10,000 plus and while we can come up with the nearly $5000 to get into a rental, $10,000 could pose a bit of a problem. Anyhow, I’m just hoping to catch a break and find someone who will give us a chance. I appreciate your response…thank you,
Darla
Re: Really? WHO IN THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE? - Posted by Darla
Posted by Darla on June 16, 2001 at 21:45:12:
You don’t know me…you can’t possibly know what my “type” is! For your information, I DO have what I need to pay move in costs…I have no intention of asking anyone for a handout! I HAVE an excellent job as does my husband. Oh, and one more thing - LIVING IN A RUN DOWN APARTMENT ON THE WRONG SIDE OF TOWN IS BETTER THAN HAVING MY KIDS LIVE IN THE CAR! So, if you or anyone else doesn’t care about my situation, THEN DON’T BOTHER TO RESPOND!!!
I have enough to worry about to provide for my family without having to justify myself to doubters and critics. Anyone truly interested can contact me for references.
Re: Family desperately needs house - Posted by Darla
Posted by Darla on June 16, 2001 at 14:46:20:
Donna-
We had a month-to-month agreement. When we move in 7 months ago, we were told the owner lived and worked in the Bay area and would be retiring in two years. Unfortunately, she has taken ill and has decided to retire earlier (July 1). I have searched all newspapers, online, driven the entire area, called Property Management agencies - the whole works. Thanks for your information.
this might help - Posted by Anne-ND
Posted by Anne-ND on June 21, 2001 at 09:04:45:
Darla,
If you haven’t found a place yet, I suggest that you do the following. Keep calling on ads, and when you get someone who has a house you can afford, tell them up front (calmly) about your credit issues. Tell them that you have references for timely rental payments from your previous landlords, and that your employers will also offer references. Be up front, and don’t be scared if they insist on pulling your credit anyway. Landlords have to treat all potential tenants the same way (Fair Housing Act), so if they pull other peoples’ credit, they must pull yours too. Whatever you do, do NOT blame your present financial woes on someone else, even if you think someone else is to blame. I don’t rent to people who can’t take responsibilities for themselves. However, I do rent to people who have made some mistakes but are now working their way out of them.
In addition, offer to pay a higher than market rent. Personally I do not want any of my tenants doing repair work on my properties- making an offer like that to me would be a big turn-off. Although I like my tenants to be able to change light bulbs, and take responsibility for very minor repairs, I do not allow them to do ‘handyman’ work on the property, ESPECIALLY in exchange for rent.
Finally, what about renting a mobile home in a park (as opposed to buying a mobile home to put in a park)? As a short-term solution it sure beats living out of your car.
Remember, stay calm, focused, honest and responsible when you speak to landlords.
Good luck,
Anne
Re: Family desperately needs house - Posted by Dave T
Posted by Dave T on June 16, 2001 at 22:12:10:
My understanding is that Sacramento is a seller’s market right now. So finding that motivated seller may be a little difficult.
Because it is a seller’s market, Sacramento is probably also a landlord’s market. Landlords can demand top rents and get them. They can afford to turn away applications from renters with marginal credit, because another application is pending.
Does this mean that your situation is hopeless. No! It just means that it will take a lot more effort to find a place that fits your pocketbook. The Money Store used to have a sizable presence in your area before they discontinued operations. I believe that they still have an inventory of foreclosed properties that you may be able to purchase at an affordable discount.
The Money Store’s REO operation is centered in Tulsa OK. Try asking someone at First Union Bank (The Money Store’s parent company) how to get a list of the Money Store REOs in your area. Try Monumental Mortgage for 100% financing.
First Union may also have REOs but I believe that The Money Store will discount deeper because the properties were overfinanced to begin with and are in some state of disrepair. This translates to a more motivated seller.
Re: Family desperately needs house - Posted by SueC
Posted by SueC on June 16, 2001 at 20:05:16:
You might have already tried this, but try calling ads in the paper that investors run, the “I Buy Houses” ads, some of these folks might have inventory for you to look at. Talk to a realtor to find out if there are any lease-purchase properties listed on the MLS. Some folks looking fomr someplace to rent or buy also run ads themselves - I don’t know how that would fly in the Sacramento area, but it seems to work here in Philly.
You might also ask family members if anyone can co-sign for you to get over the credit problem. Get a letter from your landlord stating that you were good tenants.
I’ll keep sending good thoughts the way of you and your family, good luck.
Re: Family desperately needs house - Posted by Darla
Posted by Darla on June 16, 2001 at 22:29:30:
Thanks, Dave. I’m going to begin research on your suggestions right now. And, I appreciate your comments. When we rented this house 7 months ago, it was at the high end of the scale for the area - $1100. When I began looking again two weeks ago, I’ve found the average rent to be between $1250-$2200 ALL OVER THE CITY! And, you were right. When I filled out applications and left them with owner landlords, I was informed that all the applications would be reviewed before anyone was called. Given that and the migration from the Bay area, there are prime renters available without anyone having to take a chance with a renter who has bad credit.
Thanks for the information. I’ll begin right away.
Darla
Re: Family desperately needs house - Posted by Darla
Posted by Darla on June 16, 2001 at 21:57:43:
Sue-
I will call the landlord and ask about a letter. I’ve already been watching for lease options and such. I was thinking of running and ad, perhaps I’ll go ahead and do that. It never occurred to me to call the “I buy houses” ads and see if they sell to. Thanks!