International renters
What is a guarantor service and should I use one?
Updated By the Housing Rocket moderators
Short answer
A guarantor service is a company that signs your lease as guarantor for a fee, promising the landlord it will cover unpaid rent up to a limit. It is worth using when a landlord requires a US guarantor and you do not have one, but only if that landlord accepts the service and the fee costs less than the alternatives.
You apply to the service online with your passport, visa documents and proof of funds or income. It decides whether to cover you and quotes a fee, often somewhere around one month's rent, sometimes more or less depending on your profile and the lease. The fee is usually not refundable and is charged again if you renew.
- Confirm first that the landlord accepts guarantor services, and which ones. Some only work with one company.
- Ask your university's international office whether it runs its own guarantee program or has a discounted arrangement.
- Compare the fee with what the landlord would accept instead, such as a larger deposit or some prepaid rent. A deposit is usually refundable, a guarantor fee is not.
- Read what the service can do if you fall behind. It pays the landlord, then it can come after you for the money.
Only use a service the landlord names or that you find yourself. If a stranger in a housing group offers to be your guarantor for cash, or sends you to a site you have never heard of, walk away.
Want the whole picture? Read Renting as an International Student.