As a student getting ready to sign your first or even second lease for an apartment in Midtown Atlanta, you may have many questions.
At Rambler Atlanta, some of the most common questions we hear are “What is a guarantor?” and “Do I need a guarantor to sign a lease?”
Our goal is to help students like yourself navigate the leasing process and make the right housing decision for the year. To ease this process, we will be answering some of the most commonly asked questions about guarantors, including:
Do I need a Guarantor and Why?
What is a guarantor?
Entering a lease with a property’s landlord is a contractual agreement to pay your rent each month. To determine if you are qualified to sign the lease, the landlord will look at your income and credit score to see if you can be held financially liable for rent payments.
To be qualified, a landlord typically requires the monthly income to be around three times as much as the monthly rent, which is likely unattainable for the typical college student.
Because of this, almost all students will need to have a guarantor co-sign their lease. When a guarantor co-signs your lease, they are agreeing to pay for any rent that the student does not or cannot pay. The guarantor is equally responsible for the lease, so most students have a parent or guardian be their co-signer.
What will my guarantor be responsible for?
As previously stated, a guarantor is responsible for any rent the student does not or cannot pay. They have agreed to take on the liability of the entire rental rate for the entire duration of the lease, including any damages.
For example, if you sign a 12-month lease agreeing to pay a rental rate of $1,000 per month, your guarantor will be held accountable for the entire sum of $12,000 plus any additional fees or extras for damages should you fail to pay.
Student housing properties typically offer individual leases. This means you and your roommates would sign separate leases and would need separate guarantors. The benefit of this is that you and your guarantor are not accountable for your roommates’ leases, only your bed space and the common areas.
Read Next: 5 Reasons to Sign an Individual Lease as a Georgia Tech Student
On the other hand, a traditional apartment complex typically requires you and your roommates to sign a joint lease. This holds all roommates and guarantor(s) responsible for the entire rental price of the apartment as a whole.
Do I need a guarantor?
Considering the steep income requirements needed to sign a lease on your own, most college students will need a guarantor to co-sign their lease. It is important to understand a guarantor’s role and why you need one before signing your first lease.
To prove your guarantor meets income requirements, guarantors will need to provide the leasing office with bank statements or pay stubs. You and your guarantor will also likely have to provide your Social Security numbers so the landlord can run a credit check.
We require all residents at Rambler Atlanta to guarantee their lease in one of four ways:
- Sign with a guarantor that meets the qualifications below
- Prepay two rent installments, which are applied to the last two months of your lease term
- Utilize the Guarantor Waiver Program (GWP) offered by Leap (full-time students only)
- Utilize the Rent Guaranty Program offered by Leap
For option #1, you will list the name and email of your guarantor during the application process, and your guarantor will receive an email to fill out their portion of the application.
For a guarantor to qualify, they must meet the following qualifications:
- Must earn 3x the monthly installment
- Must not have filed for bankruptcy in the past seven years
- Must have a credit score of 600
If you are a full-time students and are not able provide someone to act as a guarantor on your behalf, or you cannot prepay two installments, you will be enrolled into the Guarantor Waiver Program (GWP) offered by Leap by our leasing team. Leap acts as your guarantor for a monthly fee of $78, which is added to your rent payment. The GWP is only available for full-time students (domestic or international).
If you are not a full-time student and do not have a guarantor or the ability to prepay two installments, you will be enrolled in the Rent Guaranty Program offered by Leap. To enroll, you will fill out an online application with Leap and pay a one-time, non-refundable fee after your application is reviewed. This fee ranges between 55% and 90% of one month’s rent, depending on credit history and financial situation.
We hope that this article helps you better understand why a guarantor is important and what they are responsible for. If you have any questions or need further clarification, please reach out to our leasing team. We are happy to help you with your housing search in any way we can!
