Survey: 82 percent of landlords would rent to distressed property owner

When a homeowner's property is foreclosed, it often hurts their ability of moving into another house because it impacts their credit. But a new survey is indicating some landlords may not turn a rental application down for financial hardship.

The National Association of Independent Landlords recently surveyed 563 of its members and found that more than three-quarters of them - 82 percent - would rent a property out to someone who'd been foreclosed upon, so long as the applicant's credit was historically in good standing.

"Landlords typically won't rent to applicants with poor credit," said Tracey Benson, president of the National Association of Independent Landlords. "The exception is when they see people who have paid their bills their whole life, but lost their job, can't meet their mortgage and must hand their keys back to the bank."

Benson went on to say that she's found distressed properties result more from someone being the victim of circumstances - such as a lost job - rather than poor money management.

Mortgage lending practices have nonetheless become more strict because so many homes have gone into foreclosure over the past few years.

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