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Complying with tough financial standards for tenants

My son is looking for an apartment to rent with a friend of his. All of the complexes we visited have some sort of income requirement, usually gross income of at least 2.5 to 3 times the monthly rent. In one of the complexes we visited, the representative told us that both boys must qualify separately for the total rent. The "boys" are 24 and 26 years old respectively, and meet all other of the apartments requirements. I asked if they had the same requirement for married couples (both must qualify at three times the rent) and they told me that it is different for married people because one of the boys might leave. This seems like discrimination against single people and a violation of their civil rights. Am I right?

I sympathize entirely with your situation, but unfortunately, the law in your state does not. Unfair as it may seem, the law preventing discrimination based on familial status does not protect single people in New Mexico from being treated differently than married people. It does, however, prevent a landlord from refusing to rent to families. Only in Maryland, Minnesota, New York and Wisconsin can a single person insist on being treated the same as married people.

The reason the landlord is insisting that each tenant be able to absorb the entire rent is because each is legally responsible for the whole rent; how they divide it up between themselves is up to them.

But there may be a way to satisfy the landlord's concern: Offer to cosign on the lease or rental agreement. This makes you responsible for damage or unpaid rent in case one of the roommates takes off and the other cannot cover the bill. Landlords are not legally required to accept a cosigner, even one with told or untold riches, because the most forward-thinking among them do not want to deal with collecting from someone who may be miles away and hard to contact and sue. But it is worth a try.

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