<p>My son (current junior in College) wants to rent a house with three other students. The management company that rents the homes requires the potential renters to fill out a form. My son has savings but no job (had an interview for on-campus summer and school year job Monday) and will not be paying the rent, we will. The form is extremely detailed asking for SS#, bank accounts, car information, etc. We don’t know if my son is supposed to fill it out, which would show that he can’t afford it,and if one of us should fill it out just as the Guarantor, where it asks for no information at all OR if we my husband and I should fill it out as co-applicants.</p>
<p>I’ve called the listing agency but either the contact person is out or just continually on the phone. A message come on right away. </p>
<p>I think the guys are planning on filling them out as if they are the renters with parents as Guarantors. If they do it that way, it looks like they have a combined income of less then $6,000.</p>
<p>Sigh, Kathyp, it really depends on the situation and the kid. I flat out refused to sign a thing for my son. He and six others are renting a dilapidated old house in a border line neighborhood. I give him a check each month and he pays all of expenses out of it. If he had been a different sort of kid, I would have handled it differently. He also had the option to stay in excellent on campus housing which was my preference. I did not support this off campus move.</p>
<p>However, there are some schools where kids HAVE to move off campus and the market is such that parents HAVE to sign and take responsibility for an apartment lease. Boston College is such an example. My friend’s son only got 3 years of college housing and had to find something off campus for a year. The Boston market was such that for him to get anything decent, the parents had to fill out a financial info form that asked for EVERYTHING and there was no getting around. Had my son gone to school there, I would have bitten the old bullet and done it. However, in his case, off campus choices are plentiful and cheap, and I let someone else’s parents sign the main lease.</p>
<p>Looks like we need to sign as co-applicants and Guarantors. I think this will work out well. Boys are all more interested in backpacking then partying and two of the four are Eagle Scouts, if that means anything. I made it clear that we can not afford to pay for this by ourselves and it sounds like the other parents feel the same way. Now the race is on to get one of the few homes available…</p>
<p>I just put the lease in my name. The landlords were paranoid about their property as there were businesses on the first floor and didn’t want any students that would create problems for the businesses.</p>
<p>Do a little checking up front into the possible downsides and have all the kids and parents discuss these possibilities.</p>
<p>What happens if one of the renters gets very ill and has to withdraw from school? Will the parents still pay the rent? Who approves a new roommate substitution if one needs to move out. </p>
<p>What if a kid flunks out of school, etc and has to leave the apt. How will ya’ll work out the rent? What if a new roommate cannot be found?</p>
<p>It may feel nosy or helicopterish to be so involved now, but you are co-mingling your credit scores with the other families and roommates do move out. The landlord will still require full rent so you need to have a plan just in case.</p>
<p>You don’t want to leave the rent unpaid as the landlord will attempt to collect it from all 3 other families and ding all your credit. </p>
<p>We ended up paying rent for several months after DD moved out when we could not find a replacement. That was cheaper than having our credit dinged and the resulting auto insurance/CC/other interest increases we would have seen!</p>
<p>We did not even know the other family and it was a time fraught with emotional tension as the roommates did not get along well (found on a roommate matching service) and things were not pleasant. We got to know the other family way too well.</p>
<p>Do yourself a favour and discuss the possible negatives now, then perhaps they won’t happen!</p>
<p>When S1 wanted to rent a house (through a realty co.) that required all that personal info. from parents, DH said “No way, find another house”. S1 and friends found another one in the student newspaper ( rented by the owner), a virtual dump but a close walk to campus. No parental info. required. Kids signed the lease and moved in.</p>
<p>S2 and friends just rented a house for next year also directly through the owner. It’s a dump close to sch. in an old neighborhood populated entirely by student renters. Four nineteen year old guys signed the lease. No parent sigs. or info. The owner just asked that parents send him an email saying we supported our sons’ decision to rent the house. It seemed kind if silly to me because anyone could have sent that email. </p>
<p>Neither property owner has any of our personal info.</p>
<p>Listen to Somemom. All the parents can make clear they are only in for their childs share but the reality is that legally you are in for the entire rent for the term length of the lease.
Like Cptofthehouse we have been clear that we are not willing to co-sign. Our strong credit score is critical to our business. It is not worth the risk.
My H works as a property manager. Just last week he had to broker a resolution between 3 young men. All grad students. Not party boys. It is a residential family neighborhood and they have had no complaints. All 3 young men started out as good friends. Somewhere over the last 10 months 2 of them are no longer speaking to each other. The 3rd roommate is in the middle. My husband met several time with each of them separately. They have 2 more months left on their lease. We would like them to stay longer. Every tenant turnover is costly. My husband was willing to allow a roommate change (the new roommate is subject to the same credit application) and my husband must approve the roommate. The guy moving out was worried that the remaining 2 would not give him any of the deposit back. My H went against his usual policy and ended refunding 1/3 of the deposit.
Another property rented by 3 young men. One roommate moved out. Remaining 2 call and ask can they now pay less money since they lost a roommate. DUH NO the rent is for the house regardless of the number of roommates.
What we have done with our oldest is tell her that we are not willing to consign on any rental. She has been able to find rooms in houses or in one case we made an offer to the landlord to pay upfront 3 months rent in lieu of my D having a co-signer or guarantor.</p>
<p>I might also talk to the landlord or rental company and ask them what their policy is regarding subleasing, letting people out of their leases early.</p>
<p>It is really important that there be an understanding of what is going to happen over the summers or if one leaves… Also if subleasing is possible. When one roommate’s parents don’t thnik they should pay for an empty room over the summer it causes all kinds of havic. It is not always possible to sublet a house or apartment in the sumemr if the market is flooded. .</p>
<p>Make sure there are no plans for study abroad next spring.
I would make sure that all the boys understand what signing a lease means. Our kids have grown up in an age where if they don’t like something they quit or if they don’t get along with someone they thing they need to move.</p>
<p>Wow, I’m getting quite an education here! The one thing I can say is that all of the boys did a study abroad this year, so we don’t have to worry about that. You all have really given me some food for thought and some things to talk over with my husband and son.</p>
<p>Do ask about subletting; since our bad experience all university kids have managed to find living arrangements without needing a co-signer. One has needed to rent for 12 months and chose to find a sublettor.</p>
<p>In none of those cases did her roommate(s) bother to find any one, I guess Mom & Dad’s money was not a big deal to them. DD had to determine whether to split sub let rent with roomie, but they did not care so DD made all arrangements and kept the money. DD also has gotten back a full refund of every deposit by being her usual anal retentive self about cleaning ;)</p>