Income Criteria

Generally in order to qualify for one of our properties we require gross income greater than 2.5x or 3x the monthly rent (depending on the property)

Why Do We Require This?

You will find when looking for a place to rent that 3x the monthly rent in income is a pretty standard requirement.  The standard rule for anyone’s budget is that they should not spend more than 30% of their income on housing, many cities around the country even have laws that will not let a landlord rent to someone if they don’t make 3x and in some cases 4x the monthly rent.  These laws are intended to protect the renter so they do not get into a situation where they cannot afford their rent and end up having an eviction on their record and/or tarnishing their credit.  From a landlord prospective we want you to be able to afford the rent as we don’t want you to stop paying rent down the line and have to evict you which can be a costly and time consuming process for the landlord.

A typical person or family may have multiple of the below monthly expenses beyond just housing:

  • Car Related Expenses (loan payments, insurance, gas, mechanical issues)
  • Student Loan Payments
  • Credit Card, Medical or Other Debt Related Payments
  • Mobile Phone and/or Landline Phone
  • Cable or Satellite
  • Internet Service
  • Gas and Electric (if not included with rent)
  • Food
  • Clothing
  • Child and Childcare Expenses
  • Healthcare

What is Considered Income?

An important thing to know is that we consider gross income in the 2.5x or 3x monthly rent calculation, which is income before taxes are taken out.  So for example if you make $14/hour and work 40 hours per week that is $560/week and $2240/month.  Your check might only be $450 a week because of taxes, but we consider the before tax amount.  Also consider that we take into account the income for all adults living there combined.  There are some other things we consider income as well:

  • Any Child Support Payments
  • Any government assistance such as Social Security payments, Disability payments, Housing Allowances, and Food Assistance/WIC
  • Student Financial Aid (to help cover living expenses not tuition)

When Will We Make Exceptions?

Every situation is different, and we will occasionally make exceptions.  Some of the common scenarios are:

  • Students that are receiving financial aid or assistance from their parents for living expenses
  • You have stellar credit and very little debt. Thus you don’t have a lot of debt related payments each month and have shown a history of paying things on time.
  • You have a substantial amount of cash in the bank and are willing to pay first and last month’s rent in advance or potentially pre-pay several months’ rent.
  • You are willing to put down a higher security deposit. This helps to protect the landlord and cover some of their costs in case of an eviction down the line.
  • You have a cosigner that is willing to cover the rent in the event you are unable to.
  • You have very little expenses other than housing and food. For example: a Senior Citizen that is retired and gets Social Security and Medicare, does not drive, and does not have internet or cable.  They do not have car or health care related expenses and also do not have any dependents to provide for so then can afford housing that takes up a higher percentage of their overall income.