[ticmasta]

This is just false. Lots of real estate organizations require a credit pull as part of your application. You aren't renting from the owner/landlord but from the property manager; there's no notion of just "pay a bigger deposit to make up for your lack of credit history".

It's also pretty much impossible to get through modern society without a credit card if you want to do anything crazy like, rent a car or reserve a hotel room.

[tptacek]

This has not been my experience, renting in Chicago, Ann Arbor, and San Francisco (around 2001).

[astura]

2001, sure.

It's no longer 2001, we live in the era of big data now.

[tptacek]

That's silly. Credit scores were as easy to obtain in 2001 as they are now.

[harryh]

That has not been my experience or the experience of many people that I know. Property managers care about risk. The risk of someone with low/no credit can almost always be mitigated with cash.

I discuss issues with renting cars and hotel rooms in sibling threads.

[soulofmischief]

This may be true, but it's out-of-band. We need frameworks which ensure a level playing field, not tricks and loopholes which only allow the most cunning or fortunate of those with little credit to succeed in life.