Guarantor

Example

A landlord asks applicants to earn at least 3 times the $1,500 rent, or $4,500 a month. A graduate student earning $2,800 a month falls short, so a parent signs a guarantee. Some landlords, especially in high-rent cities, also ask a guarantor to earn 80 times the monthly rent a year, which here would be $120,000. If the student misses March’s rent, the landlord can bill the guarantor for the full $1,500.

In a lease it looks like…

Guarantor unconditionally guarantees the full and timely payment of all rent and other sums due from Tenant under the Lease, including any renewal or extension, and agrees that Landlord may pursue Guarantor without first pursuing Tenant.

Good to know

Read the renewal line before signing: a guarantee that covers renewals can outlast the first lease by years. A cosigner, by contrast, signs the lease itself and takes on the tenant’s obligations directly, though in practice the two words are often used for the same role.