Yes — you can rent an apartment in the US with no credit history at all. Plenty of international students, recent immigrants, and people relocating from another country do it every year, but expect the property manager to ask for something in its place: extra proof of income, a lease guarantor, a larger deposit, or some combination of the three.
Having no credit history is different from having bad credit. A blank file just means there's no track record to score yet — not that you're a risk. The catch is that most rental screening in the US leans heavily on that track record, so when it isn't there, a property has to lean on other evidence instead. Knowing what that evidence usually looks like ahead of time makes the whole process faster and less stressful.
Standard US tenant screening runs a credit report alongside income and background checks. If you've never had a US-based credit card, loan, or utility account in your own name, that report comes back empty rather than negative — there's simply nothing on file. Some screening companies can pull a report using an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) instead of a Social Security Number, but that support is inconsistent: TransUnion has accepted ITINs in some cases, while Experian's online portal has not. In practice, that inconsistency is exactly why most properties fall back on alternative documentation rather than trying to force a credit pull that may not work.
The most common substitutes for a credit report are extra income verification and a bigger financial cushion up front. That usually means: pay stubs, an offer letter, or a signed employer verification showing income at roughly three times the monthly rent (some properties use a higher multiple); recent bank statements showing several months of rent saved up; tax returns or W-2s from the past year or two; and a reference letter from a previous landlord, even one outside the US. A larger security deposit is also common where state and local law allow it — North Carolina doesn't cap deposits based on credit history, so this is negotiated property by property.
No federal law requires a landlord to collect an SSN to process an application, and in some states it's illegal to reject an applicant purely for not providing one. What does matter is consistency: a property can't ask one applicant for an SSN and skip that requirement for someone else, since applying screening criteria unevenly can create fair housing exposure. If you have an ITIN instead of an SSN, it's worth asking upfront whether the property's screening service supports it, since that varies by provider.
The Fair Housing Act makes national origin a protected class, and protections apply regardless of immigration status — a landlord asking about citizenship or immigration status because of how someone looks, talks, or dresses can run into fair housing trouble. That said, a property can still ask for documentation and run standard screening to check that you meet its normal rental criteria; the requirement is that those criteria get applied the same way to every applicant, not that credit or income checks disappear altogether.
A guarantor agrees, in writing, to cover the rent if you can't. Traditionally that's a US-based friend or family member with established credit, but if you don't have someone in that position, paid guarantor services exist specifically to fill the gap — they act as your co-signer for a one-time fee, typically somewhere around 50% to 100% of one month's rent. The property still has to agree to accept that particular service before it's an option, so it's worth asking early rather than after you've found a unit.
Gather income and bank documentation before you need it, ask each property directly what they accept in place of a credit report, and be upfront about having no US credit history rather than letting it surface as a surprise mid-application. Landlords generally respond better to a well-documented applicant who names the gap and offers a solution than to an application that quietly comes back with an empty credit file.
Having no credit history isn't the same as having bad credit, and no law entitles a landlord to reject you for it alone. In practice, though, a property still has to feel confident you'll pay rent, so expect to be asked for something in place of a credit score — extra income proof, a guarantor, or a larger deposit.
No federal law requires a landlord to collect an SSN, and some states make it illegal to reject an applicant solely for not providing one. An ITIN sometimes works instead, though acceptance varies by screening company — and whatever policy a property uses has to apply the same way to every applicant.
Pay stubs or an employer verification letter, bank statements showing savings on hand, tax returns or W-2s, a reference letter from a previous landlord (even from another country), and an international credit report if your home country produces one.
A lease guarantor is a person — or, increasingly, a paid third-party service — who agrees to cover the rent if you can't. Guarantor companies typically charge a one-time fee of roughly 50% to 100% of one month's rent, and the property has to agree to accept that service before you sign up for it.
New to the US or building a rental history from scratch? ApplyOnce never runs a credit check — build your profile once with your ID, income, and references, and share it with any participating property manager.
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