<p>Right. The probability of drama is high. In one of my situations we had one apartment mate get sick and withdraw for the semester and for a different situation one decided to live in a greek house room that suddenly became available. The rent shares were paid anyway but not without some discussion. Unless you know the other parents are solid you have to assume the worst, that your child will be living alone and you will have to pay all the rent.</p>
<p>do review this carefully with your attorney and insurance carrier - as a named lessee you may be at risk for much more than property damages, not a trivial concern when you have an intersection of alcohol and adolescents. are you able to assure there will be no underage drinking, drug possession, dates-gone-bad, etc. on premises you lease?</p>
<p>Just thought I’d add a landlord’s point of view. We rent out a large apartment close to a college. It housed a family for many years, and when they vacated and we put an ad on Craigslist, we got a lot of inquiries from groups of students. We ultimately decided that the headache of renting to students was not worth it. Even if all were liable on the lease, we would likely have a heck of a time collecting the full rent if someone dropped out or had financial difficulties in the middle of the school year. And parental guarantees didn’t offer much comfort–as a practical matter, it was unlikely we would be able to collect rent from multiple sets of parents who don’t even live in the same state. And then if there was significant damage, the prospects of being made whole would be even worse. Lastly, students come and go, so we would be faced with all or a good number of the tenants switching every year, and then obtaining new lease signatures and new guarantees. All in all, given the alternative of renting to a family with intentions of staying for an extended period, we quickly abandoned the idea of renting to college students. It’s a risky business for landlords, and I don’t blame them for protecting themselves with large security deposits, joint liability, parent guarantees, and anything else they can think up.</p>
<p>I’m a little concerned over this comment:
*This is so hard because our son is super-excited about this house and feels like we are the only parents balking. *</p>
<p>Isn’t that the same type of issue that comes up all the time with parenting? I mean… “everyone else’s parents say it is o.k.” – is pretty much the line kids use all through the teen years. (Well, my kids didn’t try it… they knew without asking that it would never have worked for me).</p>
<p>Whatever you do, don’t sign something you are uncomfortable with because “all the other parents” are o.k. with it, or you are afraid of disappointing your son. If he can’t get housing without a co-signer, that’s not really your problem. </p>
<p>If YOU feel comfortable with the situation – then go ahead and sign - but please, don’t let your judgment get clouded by your son’s emotions or some sort of vicarious peer pressure. </p>
<p>Have you even seen the house? The backyard pool is just one more maintenance & liability issue added to the rest of the mix.</p>
<p>
And the landlord knows and is okay with this? (Maybe it’s a commonplace occurrence in NYC?)</p>
<p>And for the OP --the house has a pool? Yikes – can imagine the problems with frat parties and a pool. If there was an accident in the pool (drowning, injury), would the house’s owner be the only one liable? Or would the renters also bear a share in the liability?</p>
<p>It’s a difficult decision. Will it be turned into a frat party house? Maybe a agreement among the kids and a way out for your if it becomes a party house.</p>
<p>A real estate agent told me once a father signed for his son on a summer beach rental week on spring break of the son’s senior year with three of the son’s friends. All good kids, responsible and good grades. Monday morning comes, the father gets a call from the real estate agent that he needs to be at the beach condo he rented. When the real estate agent openned the door that was wax sealed by the police, the father was in tears on the of damage done to the property. The property was worth less than $100K at the time (~10 years ago) and the damage was more than $40K. He was also responsible for loss of rental income from the owner. Like MammaJ said, that is one of the reason why many owners are not willing to rent to students and if they do, they need to protect their investment. With the demand near campus, landlords can demand what they want on a lease and still gets rented. </p>
<p>Other suggested checking with the insurance company. I doubt that any incurance company will cover negligent. OP mention the house is furnished. If those furnished are not well maintained beyond reason wear and tear, the renter will be resposible. S1 is renting an aprtment with 3 friends. They furnished the apartment with used furniture and the wear and tear on them the last 2 years looks more like they have been there for more than 10 years.</p>
<p>Also careful on the “everyone’s one parents already signed”. When my friend’s daugther asked him to co-sign for a spring week in beach house, she said the same. Then it fell thru because not all parent signed.</p>
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<p>Depends on the lease. Some of the lease I’ve seen say the lease is for a specific number of people. Guests are limited to a 7-day stay in any 30-day period (or 7 non-consecutive days) unless prior permission is given by the landlord.</p>
<p>This thread is an eye-opener. Plan to have long talk with son today about what we might be willing to do in the future about signing leases. I really want to head this off early before we start getting these kinds of requests. He’s already talking about getting an apartment with some friends next summer and then in his sophomore year. I think there are reasonable boundaries one can set - either having separate leases or not signing at all might be one of them. Limiting rentals to apartment complexes that are use to dealing with college students and are more accommodating about the lease issue vs. renting from a private owner.</p>
<p>One thing to keep in mind is usually frat houses on campus have adult supervision. I know at son’s school there is a ‘house mom’ who actually lives in the house and for good reason. A large group of kids living in a house seems like a recipe for disaster. I wouldn’t have a problem with 2 or 3 kids sharing a place but even then it can get dicey. A friend was telling me this weekend that her son’s roommates for the summer skipped out and left him to pay the last utility bill.</p>
<p>I will say this - there is no way in h*ll I would ever rent a house I owned to a group of college students. Getting renters to take care of a house is hard enough as it is but college students? You’re really rolling the dice with that one. My parents owned a couple of houses in a nice area that they rented out over the years while father was in military. Invariably, they were trashed. People aren’t as likely to take care of something they don’t own.</p>
<p>I am a Realtor and I understand the issue here. The issue is simple day to day Landlord/Tenant struggle. As a Tenant, you have all the rights to hire lawyers and try not to co-sign. But at the end, the market determinds everything. Bottom line for the OP: Is the rental market hot or cold in the area you are looking? If your son has a lot of choices, hold on your pen and wait for the landlord who does not require co-sign. OTOH, if that is the best and the last, either you co-sign or no where to live, give in is the only way to go.</p>
<p>In most of the college town, where housing is in demand, Tenants have very little choices but to give in to the landlord’s demand. I just went to a senminar two weeks ago, parents co-sign was the selling point for those multi-family investors.</p>
<p>Another situation I am familiar with, the owner was upfront about only renting to graduate students. The tenant group is three young men working on PhDs in engineering. No parental cosign was required. A nice house close to campus – very desirable. These are 23+ year olds with college degrees already, solid credit and prior rental histories.</p>
<p>Another issue that comes up is what to do when one of the students is international? Imagine trying to enforce your parental cosign in Shanghai?</p>
<p>
It’s commonplace around my D’s school in CA.</p>
<p>I signed as a cosigner for DS who lives alone in a Boston studio. No issue for me as I trust my own kid. I would never cosign in the situation the OP relates. The liability there is huge.</p>
<p>I did the same as ebeeee, and for the same reasons.</p>
<p>I just went through this with my S. He is a college grad and working in NYC. The landlords want 30-40 times rent (total rent, not per person) in income or they want guarantors. And the tenants and guarantors are all jointly and severally liable. S and his friends no way met that requirement, and needed guarantors. 1 set of parents out of state, 1 set willing, but not sufficiently liquid for the landlord…leaving us. My H, who works in commercial real estate in NYC, was basically told by the broker that his would be the guaranty they would be relying on. After much conversation, and after it became apparent that there were other issues, we said no. It was a bad situation all around, but our S understood and felt badly that he put us in the position of having to say no. For the right circumstance, especially if he was renting alone, we would definitely co-sign or guaranty. With roommates, it depends. NYC is a difficult market for kids. There are now new regulations restricting the use of pressure walls to create additional “bedrooms” out of living rooms, and the rents, even in previously borderline neighborhoods, are astronomical. No way can they meet the income requirements. I suspect the answer to this question will vary depending on where the apartment is located.</p>
<p>Do not cosign. H is in the property management business. He refuses to cosign for his kids. He does not want the liablity. Add in a bunch of roommates NO WAY.
A few questions about specific rental-
Is yard and pool service included?
Is the furniture nice and belonging to the owner or is it used year after year in a rental. Big difference.
Does the house regularly rent out to students?
If they always rent to students the owners are aware of what they are getting involved with. If they don’t they are in for a huge surprise. Even the males with the best intentions can destroy a house. I have seen how my son keeps his own room. YUCK. We keep him in university owned apartments for just this reason.
If you get talked into the house anyway there are a few things you can try. Any landlord renting to people without steady income are going to ask for a co-signer. That is common business practice. What we have done with our older D is make the management company or owner a offer. You can try offering a larger security deposit or offer to pay 3 months up front or offer to pay 3 months upfront with two of the months being for the last 2 months of the lease. Much will depend on how difficult the housing market is in the area. If they are having a hard time renting the house they might be more willing to take some risks.
I would also consider having the boys and parents commit to having a housecleaner each week.</p>
<p>After an unpleasant situation where we ended up paying rent after DD moved out, we told our kids we would NOT cosign. </p>
<p>If you student has scholarships and/or loans, a financial aid package should allow them to qualify on ‘income’ such that a parent is not required financially for a cosign; now in a college area they may STILL require a parent to sign. UCI kids living in Newport Beach did need a cosigner, in Berkeley DD was able to avoid the cosigner, but it likely depends on the specific landlord</p>
<p>One DD rented a house that she shared with about 20 girls, they were not jointly liable for the rent, only for their room, but were jointly liable for any damage. There was none and it worked out fine.</p>
<p>Yep, Deja, landlord knows. In NYC, this is very common due to space shortages. The place is not a luxury upscale. $1800 a month does not get you much in Manhattan. He is in Washington Hts, an older building, large building with many units in a gentrified area of the Heights, right near transportation. His two roommates have had their parents co sign the lease. Son is in there to help out with the rent so that it is as cheap as it is for all three of them. He found this gem of an apartment after he and the one roommate had been searching for months and were ready to give it up. They found nothing close to this.</p>
<p>While in college, son was in a house with 5 other guys, and I did not cosign then either. I just cannot afford the potential liability. My parents never signed for me either and I lived in the student ghetto for years.</p>
<p>There are nice apartment buildings where everyone has to have a co-signer, and in situations like that, my son just can’t do it. I know when I was in college, there were some upscale apartments where a 2 or 3 kids, no more than that shared place. Each kid had a co signer who was responsible for that portion of any costs. The slumlords I dealt with didn’t even have leases.</p>
<p>My son’s apartment, however, was listed by brokers and is a large rental apt building right near the GW Bridge. It worked out well for him. He got the unit through someone who knew the manager of the building. In NYC, that’s often how thiings work.</p>
<p>Friends of ours took a relatively mild financial bath when they signed for a unit with their daughter who absolutely had to leave the place due to the lifestyle of the roommate and issues that could not be reconciled. They were forced to continue to pay the rent until the roommate found another person, and she took here sweet time. The parents just threw up their hands about co signing another lease and told D she was on her own. She found an apartment share where she is not even on the lease, the same situation my son has. Unless you have the money that you can comfortably rent a place for your student, it’s better to let them look around and find their own arrangement where they can take their own responsibilities. In university areas, there are always rooms to let where the roommate disappeared, and the kids left need someone to make up the rent. You don’t have the heavy liability and responsibility in such a situation. If you can afford to sign and get a place, go on ahead. I know parents who have rented or purchased places for their kids, and let the kids rent out the rooms for their own money. We just are not in that financial situation.</p>
<p>During a few summers, my son found a luxury apartment in Manhattan that the owner (fool) was willing to sublet to him over the summer. He got two other kids since it was a 3 BR and wanted me to cosign. I told him, absolutely not. I think the owner was a total idiot to let 3 college kids sublet the apt during the summer while in Europe. Not only was the place furnished, it had all of the belongings still in it. It was really a house sit that he had to pay in order to live there, feed the cats, water the plants, clean it each week. </p>
<p>Son managed to get one of his friends’ parents to sign, and the deal was good. They did this for 3 summers in a row, not needing a cosign after the first year. No problems came to our attention, but then we weren’t allowed. I know there was a big bash of a party there one summer with open invitation on Facebook. I shudder to think of the risks. But those kids stayed under the apartment’s radar and cleaned the place up to the satisfaction of the owner each year. It did work out for him, but I couldn’t take the risk.</p>
<p>Both mine have lived in off campus rentals w/ 3 other roommates. We refused to co-sign. Too much risk.<br>
Told them they would have to find a rental that didn’t need our name on the line.
Also one rental co. that wanted us to co-sign was asking for waaay more personal financial info. than we felt comfortable divulging. We told S to keep looking.</p>