<prompt> Human: Hi all. I am 26 years old and currently unemployed. When I was 22 my parents threw me out. During the subsequent homelessness and terrible poverty, I got a starter credit card. My thought process was actually to BUILD my credit, but emergencies happened, I didnt pay the bills, voila, my credit score is now 533. A friend who is amazing is payign for my rent and food for the time being until I get on my feet. He has more than enough. Right now I need to move, trying to move to a better place than where I am currently. Found an apartment complex that I like, in the budget my friend and I agreed on. I called them...and they..basically said Id be wasting my time to apply. That my credit score needs to be around 650 at least. I told them I had a cosigner the friend, all lined up; they said it didnt matter. If I lived in the apartment, it was my credit that needed to be evaluated, and they didnt give a shit. Politely. 1. How the fuck do I improve my credit score? 2. Is it possible to do so quickly?3. If my friend applies, in lieu of me, is that illegal? I think this is really terrible. I even tried to go the sympathy angle and told them Id been homeless abd was now improving my life, which is true. Im not quite unemployed, I have some babysittingnannying gigs, theyre just inconsistent. I think this is kind of punishing poor people?! Im good for the money, or at least my friend is, and he doesnt have an issue supporting me. How do I apply for places to live with shot credit, if they wont even consider a cosigner? I didnt get bad credit to be malicious or something. Just needed to eat. :  <response>: 1. Get a credit card. Pay it in full every month.2. Not really.3. Probably. rlegaladviceIts not punishing poor people. Rich people can have terrible credit and poor people can have great credit. Why shouldnt they judge you based on your ability to pay back previous debt? 