Question About Apartment Issues as a Transplant
My boyfriend and I are in the process of moving to Houston, and we’re running into issues applying for apartments. We have been going back and forth with an apartment complex in the Spring Branch neighborhood for over a week now because they need what seems like a really disproportionate amount of information. When I initially called to explain my situation and ask what their rental requirements/renting process is like, they said they just need pictures of our IDs and five previous pay stubs, and that the credit check will tell them everything else they need to know. I have good credit and no evictions on record. They already know we meet the income requirement. But when we sent in the info they requested, they suddenly needed to reach out to and hear back from my boyfriend’s employer and both of our previous apartment complexes, and will not give us an approval until they hear back from all of these people. I asked and they insist that they didn’t come up with any issues, but I was never told about all these extra steps when I called, and I asked very detailed questions. Every day or two I get a call from them explaining some new setback or thing that didn’t get signed and I’m baffled.
This seems like a crazy amount of info to need for an apartment that costs $750. I have rented in Seattle, a place where I pay $1500 for an apartment the same size, for five years, and never had to do any more than submit my most recent three pay stubs and do a credit check. I usually got approved the next day and I’ve never had anything even approaching this experience here. Is it normal in Houston for apartment renting to be such a lengthy, difficult process? I don’t want to start looking elsewhere if I’m going to run into the same thing.
I’m not sure if I should mention this but my boyfriend is black. Since we live in another city, they obviously did not know this until I sent a copy of his ID. This is when I suddenly started running into issues. I’ve never been to Texas, or the south at all, and I don’t know if that’s a real issue down there, but I thought I’d note it.
tl;dr: How much information to apartments in Houston usually need to rent to someone? Is my experience being given a bit of a runaround after an initially warm reception normal?
submitted by /u/SuperiorSperg
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