Within NYC luxury real estate, it is often quite difficult as an international student to find a luxury rental apartment. It can be hard for most students, as well as many others without a long work history or established credit, to obtain a luxury apartment lease. But for international students searching through NYC luxury real estate listings, it can be even more of an ordeal, simply because they do not have the same opportunity to use a guarantor. Susan Tsang, for example, is a PhD student in biology who was born in Hong Kong. When she moved to NYC to attend school, she did not have any U.S. employment history, and therefore was in a position where she needed a co-signer. However, because her parents still lived in Hong Kong, she was confronted with a number of challenges, as dozens of landlords refused to allow for international guarantors. She was eventually able to find a studio in Manhattan’s Upper West Side neighborhood, but not before she was forced to deal with the roadblocks a great many foreigners have had to circumnavigate.
There are, to be sure, concrete reasons that many landlords are at the very least reluctant to accept an international guarantor. It is not a discriminatory practice, but one that was created out of necessity. In the opinions of many New York City real estate experts, an international guarantor is not enough of a guarantee. The rules and regulations in place state that U.S. Federal courts, those that often handle the cases between residents of different states, have jurisdiction only in instances in which the parties in question are within a 100-mile radius. If that is not the case, landlords would be forced to hire local counsel in the guarantor’s home state in order to receive restitution. For this reason, many landlords are even unwilling to allow people to co-sign when they are not residents of the tri-state area. If one takes a moment to evaluate the situation, the reason for their reticence as pertaining to international guarantors makes perfect sense. It would be enough of a hassle to sue someone living in Florida, for example; just imagine how difficult it would be if the guarantor lives in another country.
But international students do have several options when trying to find Manhattan luxury rentals. A perfect example can be seen with Insurent Agency Corp, which boasts itself as NYC’s only institutional guarantor. Insurent is willing to act as an underwriter for foreigners who do not have U.S. credit or job history for 110 percent of a month’s rent. Another option international students have is to pay rent up front, either six months or a year in advance. This can be complicated, as landlords often do not like to take advanced rent payments because it limits their ability to evict tenants. Of course, there is a third option; find specific landlords that are willing to rent luxury apartments to international students. While this can be a challenging process, renting luxury real estate in Manhattan can be a rewarding experience. Perhaps this is why the number of international students seeking NYC luxury rentals continues to increase, and does not appear to be slowing down any time soon.
