Following the passing of my father, my mother is looking to relocate to Cleveland to be closer to me and my family. We found a lovely home in Columbia Park.
The main thing I should note about my parents is that they have never supported having credit cards or debt. They've paid for everything, as long as I can remember, with cash. Our real estate agent provided us with the application for residency to the park. We filled this out and provided proof of income, bank statements, everything requested. When dropping off the application our agent explained to them that my mother had no credit history. Our agent was told that would not be a problem. She provided the money order for the $250 application fee and we awaited a response. My mother was notified the next day that she was denied due to a lack of credit (she had no score). I spoke with the office and was told we needed a minimum 585 credit score to be approved. I offered to co-sign but they wanted an additional $250 to run my history!
Nowhere on their application did it state a minimum score was required. I was informed by the office that this is something that is the job of the applicant to ask, not for them to advertise. I mentioned also that there are laws protecting consumer rights with regards to application fees. I was told they are a private company and can charge whatever they like.
Needless to be said, we have no desire for my mother to live in a community that takes advantage of those on a fixed income. This place is no place I would recommend living, especially when they value poor credit over no debt. Two big thumbs down.