The Best Places For Finding A Felon-Friendly Apartment Online

When you’re done serving time, you have three tough tasks ahead of you. First, you have to reintegrate back into society. Second, you need to find employment. And third, you need to find suitable housing.
While all three tasks may be daunting, the third one may be the most important, as everyone needs a roof over their head. Here are some tips on how to make that happen, even if you have a felony on your record.

Where to Look for Felon-Friendly Housing

What’s the number one thing standing between you and securing a home once you’re free again? Your record, which can be discovered by rental management properties or landlords who have the right to run background checks on prospective tenants.
This may seem discriminatory, but it isn’t according to the law. If the background check reveals a felony, even if it’s old, you could be denied housing.
Does this mean you’re out of look when looking for a felon-friendly apartment? Not at all. It just means you have to know where to look, and hopefully find a place that doesn’t require a background check.
Here are some of the top spots to find housing as a felon:

1. Craigslist

Why does Craigslist hold the top spot on this list? Because it may be the most felon-friendly site when it comes to housing.
What makes Craigslist so felon-friendly? The fact that many individual landlords list their properties on it, versus other sites where stricter management companies reside. If you can find a landlord on Craigslist, they may be willing to work with you regardless of your record, as they may need your rent as income more than a large company would.
When searching Craigslist, be sure to use the search tool that allows you to enter in what you can afford. This will filter the results and make it easier to pinpoint a property. Also, search for “no credit check apartments” to see if there are any possibilities that will make it easier to rent.

2. Zumper

It may not be the most well-known site around, but it could be just what the doctor ordered if you’re looking for a felon-friendly apartment.
On Zumper, you can sometimes see if an apartment is felon-friendly in its description. This will let you know right off the bat if it could be a housing possibility.
When it comes to second-chance apartments that you can rent without a credit or background check, Zumper is tough to beat.

3. Yelp

While this site is more known for its reviews of restaurants and other local businesses, you can use it to find felon-friendly apartments too.
Head over to the home page and type in “no background check apartments” into the search box.

4. Zillow

As with Yelp, you can use Zillow to look for a felon-friendly apartment. To find the right property, try a search for “no background check” or “no credit check.”
It’s worth noting that Yelp and Zillow will have fewer felon-friendly options, but they’re worth trying, so you can at least see what’s out there in your price range.

5. Trovit

On Trovit’s home page, you can select the “For rent” option and type “felony friendly” into the search box. From there, the site will generate a list of felony-friendly apartments according to state. You can do the same by searching “felon friendly” and seeing what’s in your area.