Renting and establishing credit in BC

[jenni_usa]

Hi - we are relocating from the US to Vancouver soon (have a job there & work permit). We understand that our credit here in the US does not transfer over and we basically have to start from scratch. We are probably going to have to rent a place first before purchasing - how do most property rental places check your background/credit history since we will have none in Canada. We really want to start establishing our credit there once we arrive so that we can buy a house in a year or two. Will they just verify our jobs and perhaps references? We would like to apply to rent a place prior to arriving so that we have an address...but will not have our social insurance #'s until we land. Will rental companies even accept applications from us?

 

[imatwkrp]

I am working on the same, and look forward to seeing answers to this query! We're moving to Ontario and have all the same concerns.

 

[scarletsally]

When I applied for rental, the application form asked for a SIN but it may not really be required. Most of them just ask for references - I just placed my employer. As long as you've got a stable job, there would be no problem. They called my employer to verify my job, and went on to rent the apartment to me.

 

[can_usa_97]

I'm not sure about BC but I spoke with a mortgage broker in Ontario regarding obtaining a mortgage upon arriving.
He said they would use our American history to establish the ability to loan - US Equifax Credit Bureau report. This would allow the process to be pretty painless and that he wouldn't really need a history of working in Canada persay to qualify.

He gave a guideline to me to start with as 250K approval would require 50K income and 10% down.

 

[canadausa]

We just rented a home in Toronto using printouts of our US credit reports (got them at myfico.com) and also a letter from my employer confirming my employment and income levels. No problems at all, they considered us very creditworthy tenants.

 

[dcpaley]

Many lenders will consider your US history. If you have a sufficient downpayment, the bank will have little problem lending you the money.