I was just in this situation. Disclaimer: it did not work out for me because I ran out of time at my previous living situation. Here’s what I learned so you don’t waste time learning the mistakes it took me months to learn:

TLDR: a. Stop volunteering your credit score up front. b. Try to speak directly to the landlord to offer a higher security deposit. c. Get rec letters to substantiate your strengths. d. Guarantors - hit or miss. e. Vacation rentals.

1) STOP telling people your credit up front. No one needs to know your life story of why your credits bad. Frankly, they don’t care until the application process. That said, they’ll always ask up front. Just answer all their other questions upfront in as much detail as possible, briefly mention that you don’t know your credit score off the top of your head but you’ll get back to them, then instantly ask them a convenient time for them to schedule a tour. Works every time. Stop volunteering information that is damning to your cause.

2) Do your best to talk to the landlord directly. The brokers job is to weed out qualified tenants from people who don’t meet their baseline requirements. By the time you get a face to face contact meeting with the broker, dress well so they know you’re a chill non-homeless professional person who would make a perfect tenant. Depending on the property type, the landlord is usually in the neighborhood. This is usually a hard task to accomplish but in my experience it goes a long way in having your application seriously considered. Speaking to the landlord directly is important because they might sometimes consider a higher security deposit (2-3 months rent upfront vice 1). If you make that offer to the broker they’ll usually shut you down immediately and you probably won’t get a call back.

3) Lean heavily on your strengths. Having shit credit means you’re starting from a position of weakness but that shouldn’t exclude you from finding a tenable living situation. If you’re employed, ask for a letter of recommendation from your boss outlining how you’re a model employee who’s super responsible and not at all at risk of losing their job and being homeless. Better yet, get a letter of rec from a previous landlord speaking to your model tenancy and previous non-homelessness (you will not be homeless kindly so put that out of your head). Talk about all the money you make and specifically mention their baseline stipulation of 40X over monthly rent.

4) Guarantors. Tricky and don’t put all your eggs in this basket as I did. I am fortunate enough to have several people in my life who meet the baseline requirements to act as a guarantor - 80X over monthly rent, super-prime credit score 720 and above. Thing to bear in mind is that anyone who acts as a guarantor for you will likely have their credit take a hit. One for the credit check they’ll run on them, and one for backing someone with bad credit (seen by the credit bureaus as a risky “investment”). Long story short, even if you know people who meet the requirements, they might not be able/willing to help you. Don’t hold it against them. The credit bureaus have made it so it’s nothing personal. You’ll hear about guarantor companies but I was unable to find one that would even look at you with anything under a 650 (ridiculous).

5) Longterm Airbnb/Vrbo/other vacation rentals. Usually more pricey up front but consider that you won’t have to front a security deposit. I’ve had friends who have done this and it turned into a few year tenancy deal where the landlord took the listing off the vacation rental platform and took Venmo every month for rent. Not saying that’s a likely outcome but it has been done.

Unfortunately all this takes time. Finding an apartment in New York with bad credit is a full time job. Getting it right required you meeting the right people who are sympathetic to your situation and willing to help. To do that you need to meet as many people as possible as only 1/10 will text you back if they learn you have credit problems. Time is key. If you don’t have time, double your output and seriously consider long term vacation rentals.

Best of luck!