Do I Need a Guarantor To Rent in NYC?
You may need a guarantor to rent an apartment in NYC. Getting approved for an apartment in NYC is not easy. Most landlords require tenants to have a good credit score and a salary that’s at least 40 times the rent before considering an application.
NOTE: To search for NYC apartments, go to frele.com (free service). Or, click for more rental tips
But even if you fall short on some of the qualifications, there is still hope. You can get a guarantor! A landlord may ask for a guarantor if the tenant has low income (less than 40 times the rent), or doesn’t qualify for some other reasons including:
- Bad credit
- Just started a job / Unemployed
- Little money in the bank
What is a guarantor?
A guarantor is basically a person who “guarantees” the payment of rent. To do this, he or she will sign somewhere on the lease or in a separate rider. Usually, the guarantor is a parent or relative – like a brother, sister, or uncle. But the guarantor could also be a friend or a friend’s parent who is willing to shoulder the rent on behalf of the tenant. If the tenant fails to pay rent, the landlord can go after the guarantor and ask the guarantor to pay on behalf of the tenant.
Note: In cases where the rented property is shared, the guarantor may also be liable for the rent payments of the other tenants as well. This is important to keep in mind if you’re planning to get a guarantor for a shared apartment. In this situation, sometimes the parents of the tenants have some sort of agreement between them. For joint tenants, some landlords may accept multiple guarantors so responsibility for the rent payments is shared.
Qualifications of the Guarantor
Generally, a landlord will ask the guarantor for mostly the same documents required of renters with one notable exception. A guarantor generally has to earn 80 times the monthly rent instead of the standard 40 times the monthly rent asked of renters.
For instance, if an apartment has a monthly rent of $2200, the guarantor needs to have $2200*80 or $176,000 in gross annual salary. Take note that some landlords may require guarantors to earn 90 or 100 times the monthly rent. Often guarantors can’t be present at the lease signing (i.e. parents may not live in NYC). For this reason, the landlord will often ask the guarantor to notarize the leases.
Note that some landlords only accept guarantors from certain states. For example, some landlords only accept guarantors from the Tri-state area (New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut) Other landlords will sometimes reject guarantors from certain states, usually those states which make it harder to prosecute.
In sum, if you are falling short on some qualifications, consider getting a guarantor. Most landlords accept them. Before you get one, check to make sure that the guarantor earns at least 80 times the rent. A guarantor should also meet the other qualifications also asked of renters. But every landlord is different so make sure you confirm what the requirements are needed for a particular landlord.
Now that you know what it means to have a guarantor in NYC, you can start searching for affordable apartments at Frele.com.
For more NYC rental tips, please go to frele.com/learn.
This article was written by:
Phil Horigan, NYC Real Estate Veteran
Founder, Frēlē, the free and honest NYC rental marketplace
Producer, Phil’s NYC Rental Tips [YouTube Channel]
Blogger: flowfreely.com
Instagram: @philiphorigan
Phil has been a licensed NYC real estate agent since 2004 working for some of the top real estate brokerage firms in the industry. He founded Leasebreak.com in 2013, and Frēlē in 2017. Frēlē and Leasebreak are free and transparent rental marketplaces to search for or post apartments for rent in NYC
Go to frele.com to search for NYC apartments (free service).