<p>Four male engineering seniors near LMU in So Cal. They have looked at two places, one of which required a credit check for all the parents, and the second which is asking us to co-sign the lease.</p>
<p>The question is what kind of experiences have parents had with their college students renting appartments? What are some things it would be helpful to know?</p>
<p>Not sure what you’re asking. If it’s a question about how common it is for landlords in college towns to require parents to co-sign a lease the answer is “yes.” I live in a college town and previously worked in real estate with a number of landlords that rented to students. I also had/have two students that have rented. In this town the landlords do not often run credit checks on students or parents. It is common that parents will be asked to co-sign the lease. Most recently we were not asked to co-sign, but we did need to guarantee the lease payments for our son. Not really sure what the difference is since we are ultimately on the line for the rent payments should his roommates not pay. </p>
<p>We have always found it better/easier to negotiate additional rent payments to avoid co-signing a lease that involves anyone other than our child. For example many places at UT will waive that signature if you pay first, last, and one month’s deposit. Personally I find this a better alternative than a landlord basically holding an “open checkbook” over you head on move out day.</p>
<p>We parents had to cosign in Boston. We did not have to cosign in Santa Clara.</p>
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<p>If you’re talking about a big management company (which seems to be common in the Midwest, don’t know about the rest of the country) that has several properties, the person you’re dealing with is an employee most of the time, which means that they probably don’t have the ability to negotiate like this. </p>
<p>what is the question?</p>
<p>I signed, son signed, roommate signed, his mother signed. Everyone is signed for everyone so the management co can get us all for any issue. I briefly thought about telling kid to find another place, but…I think he wanted it so badly and it felt ok. No negotiation here because it is a company and they have standard rules. My other kids tended to rent slums that didn’t require much of anything</p>
<p>I had to cosign a lease for my daughter and her roommate. Roommate’s parents had bad credit check, I know the girl well so I didn’t mind cosigning. Both of her parents have good professional jobs ( but somehow as I have cosigned in other cases, some people are not careful with money). I was surprised that I’m one of the few with good credit rating.
Separate lease for each student, but I cosigned for 2 kids and the other student had a job so he signed on his own. Its a 3 in an apartment situation. This is slum area too, near Culver City if you are familiar with the Southern California area. D1 has since moved from this area.</p>
<p>Sorry. I had to get offline abruptly. The question is what kind of experiences have parents had with their college students renting appartments? What are some things it would be helpful to know?</p>
<p>Since I posted I have spoken to the owner of the home, who says it is a month by month lease, and each students lease is separate, so there is no concern about any of the boys leaving (her words). That part sounds good, fkr the you g man, but I can’t imagine how that works out for th owner. Other than the un-Godly rent. </p>
<p>I sort of figured that was the question, but now that you’ve confirmed it I have a few things to add. This may only be true in this particular college town, but there is very little room here for negotiating a lease for any apartment or house near campus. The landlords know that if this group doesn’t take it, there is another one around the corner that will. Vacancy rates near campus are VERY low here. There are some particular items that I’ve seen in leases here that I would never sign anywhere else. To generalize, when students are living in a place with low vacancy rates, (that maybe a lot of college towns or areas), there is less room to negotiate. Normally I would never recommend anyone sign a lease that contains the terms “jointly and several,”, but I know that is the norm here and there is no way around it. </p>
<p>This is the thread I found.
<a href=“Legal liability if we cosign lease - Parents Forum - College Confidential Forums”>http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/parents-forum/971625-legal-liability-if-we-cosign-lease-p1.html</a></p>
<p>Have they been in dorms until now?
We only had to cosign for Ds sophomore year apt.
After that she had enough credit to secure a place without it.</p>
<p>Yes; dorms until now.</p>
<p>In Chicago we had to co-sign the lease and provide w2’s or tax returns if self employeed</p>
<p>Thanks all!</p>
<p>deleted after I reread thread, does not apply to this case</p>