Yes! I just did a one year lease on a town house and the mangement firm contracted for a complete background which included a hard hit credit bureau inquiry. GADS!

Yes it is! I remember when I applied for an apartment years ago for low income (or according to your income), I looked up and had an inq from them last year and it shocked me because I did not know who it was from. I was actually thinking fraud! When I found out who it was from, I was shocked because I had actually forgot about them. So, yes they will do a hard hit on you.

I recommend that you pull your own report (like i did for my current house) and bring it with you. Even though they are going to tell you that they want to pull their own report, ask them to look at your report, and would you stand a qualifying chance at an approval. Remember, apartments are out to make money while advertising a vacant unit. I think they are already sure of who they selected to move it, but accepting a $35 from each applicant is ways of making money. I believe (IMO) that they only pay one flat fee to access credit reports, monthly or yearly, I will not believe that it costs them $35 to access reports at one time.

Does anyone know if an apartment inquire is a hard-hit?