Renting an apartment and being self-employed

[deejayshakur]

so i applied to an apartment in San Francisco, and being a student, the manager requested that i have a co-signer. basically, she would accept nothing short of a paystub to verify income for my father (who is self-employed), but the way she conducted business was nothing short of intrusive. i felt like she was doing a full-on background check on me. by the way, i've rented 3 places in the last 5 years with zero problems, have a squeaky clean history and 750+ fico score.

whatever, i withdrew the application after giving her a piece of my mind, but i just wanted to see how do those who are self-employed go about proving income?

 

[JS80]

1040

 

[jadinolf]

Originally posted by: JS80
1040

That's about all I can think of.

 

[deejayshakur]

hm...never had to do that and i've rented places in Los Angeles and other parts of the Bay. oh well.

 

[theNEOone]

where in san fran are you looking and how much $$$, out of curiosity?


=|

 

[deejayshakur]

Originally posted by: theNEOone
where in san fran are you looking and how much $$$, out of curiosity?


=|

that place was in the inner sunset (20th and irving), 1 bed 1 bath, no more than 500 sq feet, things were a bit worn...$1225. it did have garaged parking though.

edit: i meant inner sunset.

 

[fitzov]

rent somewhere else.

 

[Descartes]

Your father has to be paying himself somehow, yes? Usually it's as simple as showing a few months of deposits.

The self-employed have more difficulty in getting approved because of the perceived volatility in income. They don't want to see $20k one month and $2k the next. I used to have this problem a few years back when I was self-employed, but now I pay myself a salary and just use that as proof of income.

 

[randomlinh]

Originally posted by: fitzov
rent somewhere else.

he did, he was trying to get other viewpoints on it.

 

[cerebusPu]

last years income tax report will work.

 

[imported_Trippin315]

receipts on cocktail napkins?

 

[Miramonti]

I'd say screw it before giving up my 1040. If a great credit score, a deposit, and first/last months rent isn't enough, its not the right place for you.

 

[deejayshakur]

Originally posted by: jjsole
I'd say screw it before giving up my 1040. If a great credit score, a deposit, and first/last months rent isn't enough, its not the right place for you.

exactly my thoughts. the manager seemed to be grilling me on all of my past employments and more than once asked me 'is the information on this application legit?' the answer was a phone call away. between my credit report and the application, i felt she knew too much already.

 

[leon94]

Stop being scared.

 

[RCN]

2 years tax returns......

 

[Injury]

Sounds like (s)he would have been a b!tch until the day you moved out anyway.

 

[Oakenfold]

Originally posted by: RCN
2 years tax returns......

Winner!
If you hope to finance anything be prepared to provide your last 2 years of tax returns, you shouldn't feel offended by this person asking you for more info.
Seriously would you rent a place to someone who provided something that can be easily made in photoshop?

 

[drnickriviera]

The problem with self employed people is that if they are behind in rent and are evicted, you cannot garnish their wages. Whenever someone applies for one of my properties. I'll ask for tax returns or bank statements to verifly income.