Your Liability as a Guarantor If they fail to meet their obligations, creditors can pursue you directly for the debt. This can lead to lawsuits, credit damage, and financial loss, all because you agreed to help someone out.
No rental history: Many landlords or property managers require first-time tenants to have a guarantor. Once you've built up your rental history, you can possibly lease elsewhere without a personal guarantor.
It will still be hard because guarantors are usually for students, and most landlords will expect working tenants to make 2.5 to 3 times the rent as you say, but you'll have a better chance than if you don't go into the details of your situation.
If a prospective renter doesn't meet those criteria, they should consider finding a guarantor who has a credit score of 700 or higher and an annual income of at least 80 times the monthly rent. For example, if the rent is $2,000 a month, the guarantor would need to make at least $160,000 a year.
In most cases, guarantors will fill out the same application as a full lessee. The difference being that some landlords require only a credit screening and not the full criminal + eviction history check for the guarantor.
How to Add a Guarantor to a Lease Talk With Tenant – Landlords should start by letting the tenant know that a guarantor is needed. Perform Background Check – After the tenant finds someone to co-sign, the landlord should screen the guarantor and conduct a credit check to verify their financial reliability.
Typically, rent guarantors are parents, relatives or close friends of the tenant. To qualify as a guarantor, you will need to provide the landlord with proof of income (such as paystubs), bank statements, and your Social Security number for a credit and background check.
Most landlords use terms like co-signers and guarantors interchangeably. Technically, however, a guarantor is responsible for stepping in and paying rent if it's unpaid, while a co-signer may be added to the lease as another tenant with the right to occupy the property.
A guarantor's form should include a space to fill in the home address, work address, phone number, and email address. The contact details are what will be used to contact the guarantor in the future if the principal fails to meet agreement terms. This is a very important feature of the guarantor's form.