Student Loan Debt and Medical Debt Should Not Disqualify

[rsmith6621]

....You from renting an apartment.....PERIOD

[abelenkpe]

1. Student loan debt and medical debt has disqualified people from renting? Nt

[JJChambers]

2. Perhaps if the debt is so great that there is a high likelihood they cannot afford the apartment?

[maggiesfarmer]

3. interesting point, not sure I'm ready to agree, but a few thoughts occur to me...

- evaluating the other party's ability to pay over the duration of a contract is standard and sensible business policy
- if the renter gets into trouble with cash flow and has to make a priority in bills to pay between medical, student loans and rent, there are laws protecting them from immediate eviction, so one could argue that some renters would give priority to paying the medical bills or student loans
- likewise, there are laws stating that medical providers must provide services to get a sick/injured person stable, so following that logic the renter may prioritize rent or student loans over the medical bills

so, given the absolute working of your OP ("PERIOD&quot , it's fair to turn the question on you with an extreme example:
If your sole livelihood was from renting apartments to others, and your income depended on their timely payment of rent, would you lease to someone whose expenses exceeded income, assuming those expenses were primarily medical bills and student loans? or would you rent to someone more likely to pay on time each month?

I feel your pain, my point is only that you may be over-simplifying the issue.

[badtoworse]

4. Why should you have to rent to someone who's ability to pay the rent is questionable?

[sweetapogee]

5. this must be something new

I rented several apartments and then finally bought a house before I paid off my student loan.

[Lee-Lee]

7. Nothing new

Debt in and of itself doesn't disqualify.

Excessive debt does- if you make $2000 a month and have debt payments of $900 a month and are trying to rent a place for $900 a month odds are you won't be able to afford it and it will end badly.

[sweetapogee]

8. ok

Now I get it. The OP gave the impression that having student loans and/or some medical bills disqualified a person from renting an apartment. Thank you for clearing that up!

[Lee-Lee]

9. I am of course making an assumption here

I just have never heard of the mere existence of student loan or medical bills disqualifying anyone.

[sweetapogee]

10. neither had I

but the OP educated me on this new trend that I was previously unaware of and you of course cleared the matter up completely.

[Lee-Lee]

6. That all depends, I have a rental property and run credit reports

And yes, if somebody applies that has such a high debt load that it doesn't appear they could pay the rent based upon what else they owe and their income, I don't rent to them.

It's boils down to math- either it works or it doesn't.

I didn't at first, and got burned badly. Lesson learned.