Whether it's a discrimination to require tenants' income 3* more than rent

[Ruiyue Guo]

I want to share my real awful experience in recent days for applying for apartment in Chicago !!!

I am an international student graduated last December, and get a job in Chicago which start on March 20th. After my house agent visited Atwater on March 7th, I submitted my application with an non-refundable administration fee & application fee for $565 on March 8th, and set my moving date on March 14th.

From March 9th to March 12nd, I submitted all the files they needed, uploaded income verification several times and signed lots of documents they requested. The documents I provided are: my ssn card; EAD card; passport; income documents; offer letter; bank statements, previous rent payments history. However, on the day of March 13rd, they said because that my monthly income from my work are less than 3 times of my monthly rent, I need to upload some other income to support my rent. I provided them with my bank deposits which are far more beyond the rent payments. They still said that there are only two methods to approve my application. One is to find a guarantor whose monthly income are more than three times of monthly rent and he/she meets the credit numbers and other background check in U.S. Another method is to submit an non- refundable payment with $875.

The non-refundable $875 is totally ridiculous!!!

I already proved that I have multiple income which are both from my parents and work to meet the requirements. But to move in on time, I find my friend as my guarantor. She provided her ssn, income documents which meet all the requirements of their needs. I thought I could be able to move successfully on March 14th. However, on March 14, my approval was declined. They said that I still need to pay another non-refundable $875, because of my rent ??? I had to transfer my flight ticket from March 14th to March 15th…..Does anyone has some suggesitions on that?  Thank you!

[Henry T.]

Sorry to hear about your frustration. 3x rent/income is a standard normal requirement.  Understand that it is very hard to remove a non paying tenant these days. It costs thousands $$ in legal fees. They want positive proof that you meet the 3x requirement before acceptance, and have no problem paying their rent. There's only a case for discrimination if they bypass you and let someone else rent for less than 3x requirement, which I doubt would happen. You'll will see 3x, 4x, maybe higher,  in states with laws that protect bad tenants.