Many students who are looking for student housing near UT Austin are getting ready to sign their first lease. At Rambler, our team has helped hundreds of students and parents navigate the leasing process.
Read Next: How to Sign a Lease at a Student Housing Apartment near UT Austin
We are often asked questions like, “What is a guarantor?” and “Do I need a guarantor to sign a lease?” For this reason, we will be answering some of our most commonly asked questions about guarantors, including:
What Is a Guarantor?
In addition to signing your individual lease, you will likely need a guarantor to co-sign.
When you sign a lease, you enter a contractual agreement with the property’s landlord to pay your rent each month. The landlord will look at your qualifications – typically your income and credit score – to decide whether or not you are qualified to sign a lease.
According to Texas Global, landlords typically want candidates to make approximately three times the price of monthly rent in income each month, which is not practical for the majority of UT Austin students.
Because most students won’t have this type of income on their own, it is typical for student housing to require a guarantor to sign the lease. A guarantor is someone who co-signs the lease agreement. They are responsible for any rent payments that you cannot or do not make.
What will my Guarantor be responsible for?
By guaranteeing your lease, the guarantor is taking on the liability of the entire rental rate for the entire duration of the lease, plus any damages. If you do not pay your rent, your guarantor will be responsible for payment.
For example, if you are paying $1,000 per month as your rental rate, and you sign a 12-month lease, your guarantor will be held accountable for the entire sum of $12,000, plus any additional fees for extras or damages.
At student housing properties offering individual leases, both you and the guarantor are only signing for your bed space. This means that anyone else in your unit would not be covered by your guarantor. They would sign a separate lease and likely have a guarantor of their own.
However, if you are looking into a traditional apartment, this is not the case. If students sign a traditional joint lease, then the guarantors will be joint too. In this scenario, all roommates and guarantor(s) will be liable for the entire price of the entire space.
Read Next: 5 Benefits of Signing an Individual Lease at a West Campus Austin Apartment
Do I need a Guarantor?
Guarantors are very common, especially in competitive housing markets like Austin. In fact, most landlords in Austin do not accept tenants who are undergraduate students unless they have a guarantor. For this reason, it is important to understand the role of the guarantor in the housing process.
Due to the typical annual income requirement, students typically need a guarantor.
This income requirement can be met and proven by showing pay stubs or bank statements. You and your guarantor will likely also have to provide your Social Security numbers so that the landlord can run a credit check.
We hope this article helped clarify what a guarantor is, whether or not you need one, and what their responsibilities are. If you have any questions about leasing a student housing apartment in West Campus, feel free to reach out to our leasing team, who are happy to answer any questions you may have during your housing search.
