Do Both Roommates Need a Guarantor in NYC?

One roommate qualifies, one doesn't. Whether you need one guarantor or two, how partial coverage works, and how your parents can lower the fee without co-signing.

When two people share an apartment lease, landlords typically want one guarantor to cover the whole lease. Sometimes parents aren’t comfortable guaranteeing a lease with a roommate who they don’t know well. This is where professional guarantor services can be useful. And most NYC renters don't know a guarantor can also cover half a lease. It’s called a prorated lease guarantee, and PandaGuarantee offers this option.

So here's the situation. Your roommate makes $140,000. You make only $48,000. The landlord says "guarantor required" and walks away.

Whose problem is that? Usually yours. But it's a smaller problem than you think, and your parents can help even if they don't make 80x the rent. Keep reading if this applies to you…

Do both roommates need a guarantor?

Technically no. Only the roommate who falls short needs a guarantor.

The catch is how landlords see it. Almost every NYC roommate lease is "joint and several." Two words, big meaning. Each of you is on the hook for the whole rent. If your roommate stops paying, the landlord can come to you for all of it.

So the landlord isn't screening you. They're screening the lease. When one name on it looks weak, the whole lease looks weak.

That gives you two ways to fix it.

Option one: cover the whole lease

One guarantee backs the full rent. If anyone on the lease defaults, the landlord gets paid, up to the coverage amount.

At PandaGuarantee, the group gets scored as a group. Your roommate's $140,000 pulls the score up. Your $58,000 pulls it down. The fee comes out of that combined picture, on the full rent.

Landlords like this one. One lease, one guarantee. Clean.

Option two: cover only your share

Your roommate qualifies. The landlord is fine with her. You're the one who came up short.

Some landlords will accept a guarantee on just your portion of the rent. PandaGuarantee is the only NYC guarantor service that offers this. The fee is calculated on your half, and your roommate pays nothing.

The landlord has to agree. Many do. Ask.

What it costs

Two roommates. $4,000 a month. One qualifies, one doesn't.

Full-lease coverage: one fee, based on $4,000 and the combined score. You two split it however you want. Fair is usually the person who needed it pays most.

Partial coverage: one fee, based on your $2,000 share and your profile alone. Nobody else involved.

Partial costs fewer dollars. Full-lease can land a lower rate because your roommate's profile lifts the score. Get quoted on both. It's free.

Your parents can still help

This is the part nobody knows.

A parent who makes $95,000 can't be your personal guarantor. Landlords want 80x the rent. On a $4,000 apartment that's $320,000 a year. Out of reach for almost everyone.

But PandaGuarantee lets you add a personal guarantor to your application. Not to the lease. To the application. Their income and credit get folded into your risk score. Lower risk, lower fee.

They never sign anything with the landlord. The landlord never evaluates them. The guarantee still comes from PandaGuarantee.

No other guarantor service does this. If your parent has a normal job and decent credit, it can cut your fee by a real amount.

A real example

Two undergrads. One NYC apartment.

One student qualified on her own. The other was an international student with no U.S. credit and no U.S. family to co-sign.

The landlord didn't want to make the first student pay for a guarantee she didn't need. So he accepted PandaGuarantee coverage on just the international student's portion. One application. One fee on half the rent. Approved in minutes. The first student signed the lease like any other tenant.

That's the outcome to ask for.

What if a roommate moves out?

The guarantee backs the lease, not a person. If your roommate leaves and stops paying, the landlord can still claim for the unpaid rent, up to the coverage amount. You're still liable under joint and several, and the guarantor will look to recover from whoever defaulted. But the landlord gets paid, which is why they said yes to you.

If you have partial coverage and your roommate walks, your guarantee still only covers your share. Talk to the landlord before that happens. Not after.

If you're the landlord

Partial coverage costs you nothing. The qualifying roommate signs the lease as a normal tenant. The bond backs the lease, not the person, so you're paid if either roommate defaults, up to the coverage amount. You fill the unit without asking a qualified tenant to pay for something they don't need.

If you've never accepted partial coverage before, here's how the process works. It takes a couple of emails.

In Short

One lease, everyone liable, landlord screens the group. Cover the whole lease with one guarantee bond priced on your combined profile, or, if the landlord agrees, cover only the roommate who needs it. PandaGuarantee does both, and lets you add a parent to your application to bring the price down.

Which roommate are you? Get pre-approved and find out your number before the next viewing.

Frequently asked questions

Can one roommate have a guarantor and not the other? Yes, if the landlord agrees to partial prorated coverage. PandaGuarantee prices it on that roommate's share alone for the duration of the lease. Otherwise, one guarantee on the full lease covers everyone.

What if my roommate doesn't qualify for the apartment? Either get one guarantee on the full lease, priced on your combined profile, or ask the landlord to accept partial coverage on your roommate's share.

Does my roommate have to pay for my guarantor? Not with partial coverage. With full-lease coverage, you split the fee however you decide.

What happens if my roommate moves out mid-lease? The guarantee backs the lease. The landlord can still claim for unpaid rent up to the coverage amount. You stay liable under the lease.

Can my parents help if they don't make 80x the rent? Yes. Add them as a personal guarantor on your PandaGuarantee application. Their income and credit lower your risk score and your fee. They don't sign the lease.