45x rent (apartment, rentals, student loans)

[Jay07]

I'm a 3rd year medical student moving to NYC for my hospital rotations. Being a student I have no income, however, I have a letter from my school stating the amount I will be receiving in student loans over the next year which is plenty to cover rent and living expenses. Is there a way to get around the annual income 45x rent or 80x rent guarantor both of which I cannot provide? Thank you in advance.

[LegalDiva]

Not really. You will have to look for housing through "untraditional" methods to bypass strict landlords who follow those rules. That means looking at Craigslist for illegal rentals (ie living in the basement of someones house in the Bronx or Queens) or getting roommates. This is why you see many medical students, sometimes up to 5 people, sharing a 3 bedroom apt in Manhattan..welcome to NYC!

[silverbullnyc]

Depends on if you're willing to pay extra security 3-6 months, or 3-6 months up front rent.

[BrightRabbit]

You might be appreciated by a small landlord who owns a house broken into 2 or 3 LEGAL living units. Sometimes the landlord and family lives in one unit, renting out the other(s) to make their monthly mortgage. These can be more flexible situations than working with a big management company rentng a unit in a big-box elevator apartment building.

When you see an ad, if you notice wording like "resident owner" or "resident super" this might be the situation.

If those small landlords are working with a broker to screen tenants, the strict rules might still apply. But some are more do-it-youself listers. With them, you might impress them as more desirable than other applicants because your income source is steady, or they recognize that a student loan that issues you money might be a better stream than someone employed by a private business that can buckle shut within the year.

Can you network with others working at your hospital or who recently went through your same medical program of rotations? How did they solve the same problem, and do they have any current leads?

[bstevens5]

I've worked with tons of students in the same situation. There are a few options for you. 1st, you can try to get Insurent. It is a guarantor company. It costs around 1 months rent. The second is offer to pay 6 months or the entire year up front. I have a student renter's guide that I made for work if you're interested. Just let me know.