What documents needed to lease apartment/townhomes or condos?

[luvcanada]

Anyone who has real time experience on renting apartment/townhome or condos while moving from US to Canadian province? what sort of documents are needed to rent (lease) in Canadian provinces? If anyone has list of required documents, that'll be great. Thanks

 

[Leon]

It depends on who you rent from. If you rent from a private party, you might not need too much at all, maybe just ID. It might help if you have a US credit card you can show them to prove that you have credit or if you have a letter from your bank vouching for you or a credit score printed out because they might want to know that you are in the habit of paying your bills. When I rented the last time, I had ID and a foreign credit card and that was enough.

 

[luvcanada]

Thanks Leon, for your answers. Does that condition apply for fresh and new immigrant like me? And how about building Canadian credit history? How long does it take and what factors are necessary to build credit history in Canada? Answers appreciated.

 

[Leon]

If you come from the US, you can ask your bank to check your US credit history. I don't think it follows you automatically but I am sure they can check it. Having a US credit report on paper will help too. Getting a cover letter from your bank will help too. I was told when I arrived that I could not get a credit card until I'd had a steady job for 1 year but I know of people, even temporary workers who got one without a problem. It may depend on which bank you go to. I only got my first credit card after a year of working and it was only for a $1,000 limit and within 2 years I had 2 with a 10,000 limit each.

 

[luvcanada]

Thanks Leon for your reply. so it means US credit history makes really difference to get apartment in Canada regardless of local personal reference. So what if a person moving from a country where there's no credit history or credit cards then how one can be judged or qualify to lease apartment in Canada?

 

[Leon]

If somebody came from a country where there is no bank he can get a reference letter from, a landlord he can get a reference letter from and he has no credit cards, it might be a little harder for him but absolutely not impossible. I think the bigger rental companies are a lot more likely to want to check credit and references but if he rents directly from an owner, he might not have to show anything. Some people might be reluctant to rent to a new PR who comes over with no job and there were cases in ON where landlords were illegally making people pay 6 months rent in advance to be able to get an apartment. There are a lot of smaller landlords here and there that own maybe one building or a couple of houses. There are also people who own a house and rent out their basement.

 

[yasirmajid]

I know a few lease companies are much concern, if you have any job regardless of credit history, even if you are coming from any other country than USA. However, these companies would be strict enough on asking to job letter from the employer.

When you are in Canada, the first thing you must have is a credit card, and most of the banks like Scotia, TD are now offering CC for $500 limit. Pay your bills on time and if possible make full payment of CC before the interest start to incurred.

Email me at info@link2canada.ca for your accommodation arrangements, if you are looking for or visit http://www.link2canada.ca/Settlement-Mortgages.htm for list of some possible options renting.

 

[morepower]

You can also easy get a "security CC". They take a deposit in the same hight as the CC limit. normally 1000 $. After a while (approx. 1 yr) u get the deposit back. Scotiabank does that, caital one also- and some more.
If u pay them off u can have ur history build in 6 month...
We figured later that some banks offer u the cc card if you can prove that u have applied for permanent status in canada. Friend of us got hers that way with a staring limit of 2000$
Btw- we did not need anything to get our townhouse rented... but a letter of ref. could help.

 

[luvcanada]

well i started this thread and I still quite not figured it out what should I do ? my scenario is I've family and currently in US, planning to land in July so can i lease apt/town homes/condos/suite without being landed from US ? or do i still required to fill lease agreement application form(s) face to face? if I can lease from US then what will be their requirement (documents)?

thanks

 

[morepower]

What u will need depends on your landlord. Or the company searching for the landlord...
Ours did not want to have anything.
Some want references, some have applications forms to fill in, asking for job, last landlord and references, too.
Basicly u need nothing.
You do not have to take someone with a one year lease. You'll also find month to month.
Why don't you look at Kijiji in the area u wanna go to? Just ask all those offering something u would be interessted in.
Most of them will answere. Then u know how it may will be wherever you're going.

 

[luvcanada]

thanks morepower for your input. I tried craigslist, kijiji but most of them donot want the family people.

 

[morepower]

May I aks where U wanna go?
We live near universities and have no problems to find something for family.
Can change if ur kids are very young, but...
What do they prefer? Singles- students?

 

[Leon]

Maybe you should look for the online version of the newspapers in the city where you are going