International Students in NYC Face Apartment-Hunt Hurdle: Finding a Guarantor

International students don’t always have someone to ask to co-sign their lease, and most landlords won’t take out-of-country guarantors.

Two months before the start of her master’s program at New York University, Amrutha Kosuru hadn’t found housing and posted requests for assistance on her university’s Facebook group. This was Kosuru’s first time in New York; she was born in India. Her goal was to complete two years of study in the city. 

She was ready for a challenge—a heavy academic workload and high tuition—but she didn’t realize how difficult it would be to find a place to live. 

After a long search, she finally found an apartment that met her location and price needs. However, many landlords and property managers require that the tenant’s gross annual income should equal or exceed 40 times the monthly rent. She didn’t meet this requirement. She needed a guarantor, or someone to sign on as a backup who will cover the rent if the lessee is unable to. 

Finding housing in the city is difficult for many, but international students in particular struggle to meet the guarantor policy. They don’t always have someone to ask, or someone who qualifies—the annual income of a guarantor often needs to be at least 80 times the rent—and most landlords won’t take out-of-country guarantors.

In addition, companies that offer guarantor services are expensive. This can leave international students confused, vulnerable and desperate to find housing. 

Kosuru tried to contact friends she had made in the U.S., but they didn’t earn high enough income. Others didn’t live in New York State, and some landlords don’t accept guarantors out of the tri-state area. 

Among the people Kosuru contacted, some were puzzled by the guarantor policy and the high requirements, which only confused her more. “At first I thought I was being scammed,” Kosuru said. She also attempted to find a third-party guarantor through companies that offer such a service, but didn’t hear back. 

The first apartment Kosuru chose was a two-bedroom in Harlem. However, since she failed to find the guarantor, the landlord demanded that she pay a two-month deposit, despite the fact that New York’s Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019 limits security deposits to one month’s rent. This applies regardless of whether the tenant provides a guarantor. 

“[A] two-month deposit because they’re an international student or an immigrant or they might not have credit—that is, in fact, illegal,” said Allia Mohamed, a housing policy expert and the CEO of the rental search platform Openigloo.

Kosuru said she attempted to communicate with the landlord that she couldn’t afford to pay two months upfront. He then replied: “The deal is off.” She eventually found another place to live, but still had to pay two months rent as the security deposit. 

Dolores, who asked City Limits not to use her last name, came from China for a degree in the U.S. seven years ago, and became a citizen five years after that. Even before viewing an apartment, Dolores informed the real estate agency she was working with that she had no guarantor, and needed to work with a guarantor company.

After Dolores spent 40 minutes on public transportation from her workplace, completed the house tour, and was ready to submit an application, the agent informed her, through a jumble of calls, that the landlord did not accept guarantors from third-party companies.

Data from Openigloo shows approximately 35 percent of renters are actually seeking rentals with a guarantor, according to Mohamed. They might do so because they’re new to the country, or lack the income or credit history often required to rent in New York City.

Before New York’s 2019 rent law changes, some international students offered to pay several months to a year of the rent at once in order to secure an apartment. But this is no longer allowed. “They [can’t] say, oh, trust me, I’ll just pay a few months upfront so you can give me the apartment [anymore],” said Mohamed.

With fewer options, some international students end up subleting rooms being rented out by other renters.

In November 2024, Myat, an international student from Myanmar who asked not to use her last name, spent her first winter in New York. She didn’t go to enjoy the holiday scenery. Instead, she was shivering in her rented room, worrying about her future.

“After 8 p.m., there is no heat in the room,” Myat said of her sublet, a room she rented in a couple’s apartment because she didn’t have a guarantor in order to rent her own.

The couple, who were tenants and not the owners, asked Myat to pay them one month’s rent as a deposit. Myat never met the landlord, and all the communication was done through the couple renting it out. “They don’t [didn’t] have the proper documents [for me], like an agreement, a lease,” she said.

She eventually got the heat turned on in her room, Myat said, but only during the day (despite legal requirements that property owners maintain temperatures above a certain threshold from October to May, including overnight).   

As an unofficial tenant, she didn’t feel comfortable pushing the issue, a sentiment other international students related to.

“When you’re moving to a different country, there’s so many things that you have to sacrifice,” said Kosuru.

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