Cosigner Agreement Addendum

[Jillian Shuler]

Hi all,

I have a prospective tenant who doesn't quite qualify to rent my property (income is 2.7 times the rent and credit score 575). She has someone willing to cosign, but I have never done this before. My questions: 

1. Do they just fill out the cosigner agreement addendum which I got from the Book on Managing Rental Properties by Brandon Turner? I am going to check the cosigner's credit and background as well and make sure they have better credit than 600.

2. If the cosigner does qualify, is the cosigner addendum enough? Also, the addendum reads "Co-signer agrees to pay a performance guarantee fee in the amount of $___________ (refundable at the end of the lease, less any amounts not covered by the security deposit)."...

Should I have the cosigner give me one month's rent? 

I live in Pennsylvania, any help is appreciated!

Thanks!