APPLICANTS
All persons aged 18 and older must submit an application and will be considered a responsible leaseholder. If a person aged 18 or older is a legal dependent of the applicant AND proof of legal guardianship is provided, he/she will not be required to submit an application. Criminal screening, however, is required for ALL persons aged 18 and older. Rental history will be verified for all applicants.
IDENTIFICATION
All persons aged 18 and over residing in the household will be required to provide valid government-issued identification plus one of the following:
- Passport
- Military ID
- Student ID
- Business ID
As well as any 3 of the following:
- Recent original power bill
- Recent original credit card bill
- An actual credit card
- Recent phone bill
- Recent cell phone bill that matches applicant's cell number
INCOME
Verifiable combined monthly income (garnishable and non-garnishable) for all applicants that is equal to or greater than 3.75 is required for 1 bedroom apartments and 4.25 times the monthly rental amount is required for 2 bedroom apartments. If the applicant is a Elon Law student making less than the required income, a guarantor will be required.
Verification of income amount is required before application approval is finalized.
Acceptable documentation includes:
- current, consecutive pay stubs from the most recent pay periods over a minimum of one month
- offer letter on verifiable company letterhead with human resource contact listed
- current original bank statements
- Leave and Earning Statement (LES) for active military
- individual tax returns from last year
- W2s from the most recent previous calendar year
- current I20s (international graduate students)
Hand-written notes are not acceptable forms of verification.
For applicants qualifying based on assets only, original copies of savings accounts, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, money market accounts, or trust funds are required for the previous 2 months showing more than eight times the monthly rental amount for the term of the lease.
Self-employed individuals are required to provide proof of income consisting of 12 months of bank statements as well as deposit slips showing the last 60 days of income. Additional information such as verified business statements/projection schedules signed by an independent source may be required.
GUARANTOR REQUIREMENTS
- Guarantors are only permitted for Elon Law student applicants making less than the required income. Guarantors must have at least 4 accounts established for 1 year and in good standing.
- Guarantors’ rent to income ratio must be less than or equal to 20%; verifiable monthly income must be at least five times the monthly rental amount.
- Guarantors must complete an application, pay the application processing fee, and sign the Guarantor Agreement.
Guarantors may not be used if an applicant is denied based on credit history or criminal history.
RENTAL HISTORY
Applicants should have a minimum of 12 months’ satisfactory rental history or proof of homeownership.
Satisfactory history is defined as:
- no more than two (2) late payments
- no more than two (2) returned checks
- adequate notice to vacate
- no outstanding financial obligations to the landlord
The previous landlord must state that they would be willing to re-rent and/or they have no documented breaches of the lease agreement.
Applicants with less than 12 months of verifiable rental history may be required to pay an increased security deposit.
First-time renters may be required to pay an increased security deposit. No rental history is not in and of itself an automatic reason for denial.
Applicants with a negative rental history and/or collection items from a previous landlord could be denied. Additional addresses obtained from credit reports may be questioned and/or verified.
CREDIT
All applicants will have credit screening through a third-party credit information service that will determine eligibility.
The establishment of at least two current accounts for a minimum of 1 year is preferred.
The following may result in an increased deposit or denial:
- Derogatory credit history (past due accounts, collections, judgments, tax liens, charge off (excluding medical debt and student loans) in excess of $500
- Discharged bankruptcy --All bankruptcies must be discharged for a period greater than 2 years
- Paid rental collection and/or judgment
- Paid evictions with current positive rental history of at least 12 months
- Foreclosure -- Foreclosures reported greater than 2 years ago may be approved with an additional deposit provided the monthly mortgage payment listed on the applicant’s credit report was greater than the proposed monthly rent.
- Tax Liens -- Tax liens may impact the applicant’s overall screening recommendation.
Immediate deniable factors include:
- Open bankruptcy
- Any eviction reflected on the credit history, rental verification, or through court records within the last 12 months
CRIMINAL HISTORY
Criminal background screening is required for any person aged 18 and over.
Depending on the offense, applicants with certain felony records may not be approved, regardless of the time elapsed. Such felonies include (but are not limited to) high-level property, violence, fraud, family relations, weapons, organized crime, and drug-related offenses.
Applicants with certain felony or misdemeanor records within the last 7 years may not be approved.
Two or more misdemeanors within a three-year period may not be approved.
Any registered sex offender or applicant with records of a sexually based offense will be denied indefinitely.
FALSE INFORMATION
Any falsification of information on the application will automatically disqualify the application; any application monies and/or deposit monies will be forfeited.