in front. How to persuade owner or management to allow her rent? As I know, some people do not like to pay credit card on time but they will pay rent.

Landlords are going to want to look at credit scores. They want to get paid and can't afford not to get paid. Unfortunately, higher security deposits are likely the only thing that might convince a landlord to take on a tenant with poor credit. My suggestion is to write a nice letter explaining the situation or better yet meet with the landlord if you are able to set up a meeting. Sometimes poor credit is due to an event such as divorce or job loss. If you can show that things are different and improving landlords may look past the credit score, but it can be difficult. Good luck.

Has your friend tried offering extra security deposit or offered to pre-pay some of the rent....

One option is for your friend to find a guarantor who will, in essence, guarantee the rent payments. Usually this is a family member (parent, rich aunt) or an extremely close friend.

It's a risky proposition for the guarantor, because your friend is not a good credit risk and is, actually, not likely to be a perfect payer of rent. This kind of thing can happen because of medical bills, unexpected job loss or other events outside of the person's control, so it's not always the person's fault, and I'm not assigning blame here. But whatever the reason, the effect is the same--poor credit usually leads to poor rent payment history, in my experience.

Another idea is for your friend to find a room mate with good credit who is the actual renter of the apartment. Unless your friend has a high income--40 times the rent is not an uncommon expectation for landlords, some do accept less--your friend is going to need a room mate anyway, even if she had sterling credit.

Out-of-town agent advice is not going to help you here. I know of a case where the renter offered to put 6 month's worth of rent up as a security deposit, but the landlord still refused the tenant. The only way to get in was for his father to serve as guarantor.

I also believe your friend needs a savvy broker who will screen apartments for the most flexible landlords. Brokers get lists of apartment vacancies and insider information that is distributed by email to brokers only, it's not available to the general public (at least not at all easily). I charge one month's rent as my fee. Many people rent in Manhattan without brokers but brokers are well worth the money for most people.

Karla Harby VP
Charles Rutenberg Realty
New York City
kharby@crrnyc.com