What credit score do I need to rent an apartment in the USA?

Credit screening in renting is a landlord convention, not a law, which is why it is more negotiable than newcomers assume. Large management companies apply algorithmic cutoffs; individual landlords make judgment calls — which makes individual landlords the better target for a first tenancy without a score.

The score is one leg of a three-part screen alongside income (gross income of 2.5 to 3 times monthly rent, shown by pay stubs or an offer letter) and rental history (previous landlord references and screening databases). Strength in two legs regularly compensates for the third.

For no-credit applicants the alternatives that actually work: several months of bank statements and evidence of savings, an employer letter stating salary and start date, a foreign credit report, prepaying extra months or a larger deposit where the state's deposit cap allows it, or a co-signer — a US-based person with good credit who accepts liability. Commercial guarantor services fill that role for a fee of roughly 70 to 100 percent of one month's rent where no personal co-signer exists.

You have rights in the screening. If an application is rejected based on a credit or tenant-screening report, the Fair Credit Reporting Act requires the landlord to tell you, name the screening company, and inform you of your right to a free copy and to dispute errors — and screening reports contain errors often enough to make checking worthwhile.

A rejection based on race, color, religion, sex, national origin, familial status or disability is illegal everywhere under the Fair Housing Act, and many states add protected classes including source of income.