Question
Would adding a cover letter to a rental application help?
My husband and I are relocating to California and are trying to find a place to live. I found a place that we both love, but I'm finding that the application isn't representing us as positively as I would hope. We have no delinquencies with rent and no evictions and I think our credit is very good (or at least it should be, since we consistently pay our credit cards on time). The problem I'm running into is, I was in school for the last 2 years and am currently unemployed so I don't have any employment information for the past year. My husband is in the military, but has only been in for 8 months, and prior to that he too was unemployed. We also haven't been able to obtain copies of his pay stubs, so I have to send bank statements as verification of his income. I was hoping that writing a cover letter explaining why we do not have employment history, and also explaining that my husband currently has a stable job with the Marine Corps and why we would make good tenants might help to fill in the story left by the blank gaps in the rental application. Do you think it will make a difference? I'm quite serious in renting this property and don't want to be denied because of gaps in employment and inability to furnish actual pay stubs. I also thought it might help since we are both young (21) and don't have an extensive rental history. We've only rented 1 property (although I am currently renting a room). Our rental history is clean, but quite new
1 month ago - 2 answers
Best Answer
Chosen by Asker
Personally I'd love to have you as tenants. A cover letter is a good idea when you feel the application doesn't tell the whole story. The problems you mention would prevent you getting a mortgage right now, but should not prevent you from getting rental unit.
Source(s)
mother of Iraq vet
by chatsplas
1 month ago
Asker's Rating: 
Other Answers
It probably wont make much of a difference because of your age. Most people at 21 do not have extensive employment history and, frankly, adding a flowery cover letter will backfire because it will raise a big red flag in the eyes of the rental agent. Its what bad tenants do to try to convince the landlord that they will be a good tenant when they know they wont be.... It is perfectly OK to tell a landlord that you were a student and that you dont have a current job because of a relocation and that you have to rely on a military income. Any landlord who has dealt with military tenants already knows what the score is. The problem that you may face is simply one of your age. Some landlords don't like to renting to people under 25 due to maturity issues.
by charles w- 1 month ago