Do you think “3 times the rent” is too high of an income to require from a tenant?

[Flower7]

I personally feel that this requirement is unfair. Someone can make a a lot less than 3 times the rent and still afford to pay their rent.

Yes

No

[Tunasub]

You can buy a house depending on a few things and not have to make 3 times the mortgage.

[Flower7]

It’s a bit odd that income requirements are stricter to rent an apartment than to buy a house!

[Tunasub]

Especially if you will never own the rental.. I guess it's all up to the renter

[exitseven]

I only rented twice in my life and neither one asked me how much money I made.

[Flower7]

Lucky! These days, places are OBSESSIVE about that!

[exitseven]

I bet. This was 25 years ago.

[exitseven]

Thanks for the MHO

[MrOracle]

Here's why this happens: when people are allowed to move into some place where the rent is 60% of their income, they will inevitably find themselves unable to pay for their rent - which they usually don't prioritize - and they'll expect the landlord/owner to "give them a break" or "understand." They'll tell you about how their car broke down, or they had to pay for school, or whatever, and expect to get a pass. This would be like a 95% chance of happening at 60% of their income.

If someone only needs to pay 33% of their income for rent, the chance of this same situation happening are significantly reduced, probably under 10% chance of it happening during the tenant's entire stay. That's because a tenant in this situation is going to have a much bigger margin for error, and is likely to be able to save money for emergencies. Someone paying 60% rent isn't likely to have any income left after paying for food, car, clothes, utilities, insurance, and other incidental expenses, much less any discretionary spending, which means they'll likely have zero savings and zero margin for error.

Essentially, the irresponsible people ruined it for everyone else. It's not the landlords fault - it's all the people who didn't pay their rent's fault.

[Flower7]

I don’t understand why someone would choose to pay their rent…. their most expensive and most important expense…LAST after everything else. But I’m sure it happens! That’s just not the way I do things, personally. That seems very backwards to me.

[Jamie05rhs]

@Flower7 Yeah, I don't understand it, either. But "cocaine is a powerful drug.". (And alcohol and everything else.)

[MrOracle]

It's because mall shopping, or going to an NFL game, or a trip to Vegas, or buying a PS5, is a lot more fun than paying rent. But also, if your car breaks down, and you would have to walk or take a bus, you will probably pay to fix the car and put off the rent (or, at least, many would).

[Jamie05rhs]

@MrOracle I wouldn't. F*ck the car!

[MrOracle]

@Jamie05rhs Again, not everyone would, but for a lot of people, not having a car might mean 2+ extra hours of commute per day, given that public transportation is often far less time-efficient, especially for those not living in the northeast of the US (I realize it's very different in Europe). In California, not having a car is a HUGE problem for most people, as the state was built around cars, and the public transportation system is quite limited.

[buddysboy16]

I think it's ridiculous. I'm great with budgeting and knew my current apartment fit in my budget. Unfortunately I didn't make the 3x requirement. What I ended up doing was showing them a bank statement proving that if I so wanted, I could pay for the whole years lease at once (cause I saved a lot from budgeting)

[ChrisMaster69]

Here in the UK it varies between 2.5 and 3.

Although if it’s borderline a landlord can go lower.

most landlords leave it to a letting agency and they carry out all the due diligence checks.

I dropped pretty much all my rents over furlough periods for tenants.

Rents tend to be driven by market forces and a landlord is not going to usually reduce normal rent below what is suggested.

[Flower7]

I’m not saying the rents need to be lowered. Just that the amount of income required to get approved is a bit high.

[ChrisMaster69]

@Flower7 yeah it can be however a lot is based on affordability regulations.

You can eat money trying to move a tenant that is unable (or unwilling) to pay.

[kyleelyn199723]

I actually think it’s pretty fair to be honest. It’s a way to set you up to understand you will have other bills to pay on top of the rent and regardless, the rent needs to be paid. Sounds like that renter is pretty serious on being sure rent is getting paid, possibly has a history with people not being able to make the payment on time

[Flower7]

Yeah but some people are good with budgeting and can afford to pay all their bills, plus the rent. Maybe their other expenses aren’t very high.

[kyleelyn199723]

@Flower7 a home owner can’t predict who is good at budgeting and who isn’t. Most people don’t know how to budget money especially when an emergency situation comes up. A home owner also can’t predict other expenses aren’t expensive

[Flower7]

I get that. It just sucks for a person who’s in a situation like that.

[kyleelyn199723]

Oh I completely agree. Makes it difficult for anyone to find something comfortable, but I can understand a home owner. Can only assume what they go through with tenants

[Ms_Vanderquack]

Nobody actually makes that much and still rents. Get a cosigner.

[Flower7]

True. If someone made that amount of money, they could probably buy a home instead!

[Ms_Vanderquack]

Exactly, it's a lot easier to pay an $800 mortgage than $1800 rent.

[kyleelyn199723]

The purpose of rent is being able to have an easier move and easier time getting out of a house if you don’t want it to be your final destination. Many people that rent can afford a house

[Ms_Vanderquack]

@kyleelyn199723 There is also that. I’m only staying in California till I graduate so I don’t want to buy property here. Doesn’t change the fact that renting is still more expensive.

[kyleelyn199723]

@Ms_vanderquack oh it’s definitely more expensive, but definitely convenient and easier to get into. Most people need to get past being able to get a loan on their home they choose to buy which can be difficult

[Ms_Vanderquack]

@kyleelyn199723 Which is why there are so many people stuck paying rent. It’s a difficult hurdle to get over, especially without a decent job. Which in most cases requires an education… which in most cases causes even more debt.

[kyleelyn199723]

@Ms_Vanderquack I agree, but the world is ran like a business unfortunately

[Likes2drive]

Yeah but it’s basically saying you’ll only need a third of your paycheck to cover it and shouldn’t have an issue paying it after your other expenses, it would be nice but not realistic in today’s economy, seems like many people spend two thirds on rent and have to make do with the rest that’s left unfortunately

[Avicenna]

is that what it is these days? That seems kind of steep- even mortgage lenders will go higher than that.

[Flower7]

Yes, that's what most apartments require for them to accept an application.

[Avicenna]

Wow...

[Flower7]

Completely unreasonable in my opinion!

[Avicenna]

No kidding. No one should be making fun of people still living with their parents because they can't afford a place

[Interstate]

In the shit-hole complex I am in, they only require proof of employment, along with a 600+ credit score.

[Avicenna]

@Interstate: Yeah, that’s more reasonable. Buy a place as soon as you cause renting sucks.

[Interstate]

@Flower7 NO THANK YOU. I don't want to have to deal with a mortgage, up-keep, taxes twice a year, and a SECOND mortgage when the roof caves in!!!

[Goforit1010]

Landlords are faced with a LOT of different people - from those who pay their bills on time, to those who are constantly late, if at all. If you can't pay the rent, why should they offer an apartment to you? If you can show you make 3X the rent cost, the odds of you being able to pay the rent are fairly good.

Most economists consider housing costs to be no more than 35% of your income. Thats WHY most apartments are looking for your income to be at least 3X the rent.

[rcljr]

It’s up to the OWNER of the place to decide what he will charge, not the renter. If you don’t like it or don’t qualify for those requirements, move your ass on down the road. That’s how we apartment owners keep our apartments from turning into low income ghetto shit holes.

[Flower7]

I’ve already paid my rent a year in advance. I’m not in this situation.

[Interstate]

All that should be required is a good credit score, proof of employment, and to put their mind at ease... a co-signer. My Dad co-signed for me when I got this... DUMP owned by Louie Krinsky (Joe Pesci in "The Super").

[Bricealan]

Have to qualify my "no" answer in terms of the things I have seen from renters, I. E. moving out in the middle of the night to avoid rent payment etc. Here in California, I have not rented for many moons, as I was lucky to have the assets to pay the house off, so not easy to give you a qualified answer as to what land loaners want or 'collateral' to rent.

[Dinklex3]

Ehh. On the fence.
I can definitely understand, they want to make sure they'll get paid.
& I would never rent a place that's half of my income.
So it's understandable, but still sucks.

[Gwenhwyfar]

I think you’re right. Most landlords aren’t that rigid.

[GingerGuy]

I'm not sure what you mean exactly by 3 times, but rent in general is ridiculous. Pretty much impossible for someone to afford it on their own, and especially if they are only working minimum wage.

[Flower7]

Such as if an apartment is $2000 per month, the landlord would require applicants to make $6000 a month or more to get approved for it.

[GingerGuy]

Oh I see. Well I can see both sides. Any financial advice always says that your rent/mortgage shouldn't be more than 1/3 of your income, so this goes along with that. And from the Landlord point of view, they want to make sure they won't have issues getting their money (or less likely to have them), so that's probably why. However for some people that's just not possible. And I think you're right, in a way it's kind of discrimination. But I guess their legal right?

[Jamie05rhs]

You mean 3 times their income?

I that's a standard that was put in place by HUD so that people wouldn't be overcharged for housing. But it's ended up backfiring because the apartments just raise the price to whatever the limit is.

[Jamie05rhs]

Oops- sorry. You're right. I got it backwards.

[Flower7]

Lol it does often seem like rent is about 3 times the average person's income!

[Jamie05rhs]

Flower7 Yeah lol. Some places!

[youreanidiot2]

Yes, especially with these outrageous, never ending rent increases.

[cjs31380]

Well they say you shouldn't spend more than 30% of your income on rent

[Flower7]

Yes but do you think that’s actually realistic?

[cjs31380]

For the average person no not really

[jimmy2]

If you got the money , yes if you dont work on it till you do

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

Yes, I agree it's wrong

[Marhaban-1]

You can never have too much money

[douride2]

3 times isn't that unreasonable.

[sarahlumpkin]

I thought it was twice.

[Flower7]

Everywhere I’ve seen does 3…

[EaterPeter]

Sounds like you live near me.

[EaterPeter]

Thanks for like!

[Sketti2021]

Yesssss