As renters are forced to face an increasingly more expensive rental market, one tenant-to-be was shocked by a New York City apartment’s high cosigner income requirement.
The video, posted by Maggie (@maggie_louise99) shows a glimpse into the reality of many people living in what is consistently among the United State’s most expensive cities.
In the TikTok, Maggie explains that she let the person who was representing the apartment unit know how much her cosigner’s salary was—as she knew she needed a cosigner if she wanted a chance of getting the apartment.
The person shared in a text that “unfortunately,” the building’s management requires cosigners to make 80 times the rent. In Maggie’s case, the cosigner would need to have an annual income of about $200,000. “If that is a possibility, please let me know,” the person wrote.
@maggie_louise99 Replying to @Noell #greenscreen ♬ original sound – Maggie
In a comment reply, Maggie says the “crazy part is” that she asked if the cosigner’s income had to be individual or if it could be their household income. They said it must be what the individual makes on their own.
“I wish more than anything that I was kidding,” the TikToker says.
By the end of the video, Maggie looks confused and astonished by the requirement. In the caption, she explains that the income requirement is usually 40 times the rent.
“These guys must think v highly of their tiny little apartment looool,” she wrote.
In the comments section, Maggie shared that the apartment-finding process has been difficult given that she currently lives 16 hours away from New York City and that the city’s process is different from what she’s used to.
“It was the nice way to give me a panic attack bc that was the first person who got back to me, so I thought they were all about to be that way,” Maggie wrote.
The video has garnered more than 37,000 views and dozens of comments since it was first posted yesterday.
While some commenters were equally taken aback by the staggering income requirement.
“80x the rent .. I’d be buying a house not renting,” one person wrote.
Others said it was typical for the area.
“This makes sense, your rent would be 30k a year, they need to be able to c completely cover this on top [of their] rent/mortgage,” a commenter said.
“Unfortunately this is the standard for NYC and it’s unreal. Usually it’s 40x for the tenant and 80x for the cosign(individually) which is also insane,” another commented.
The Daily Dot reached out to Maggie for comment via Instagram direct message.
