When your profile doesn’t pass screening and you have no personal co-signer, a third-party guarantor company can co-sign your lease for a fee. Most renters don’t even know these companies exist.
How guarantors work
- Fee: typically 5% to 12% of annual rent, paid up front
- Timing: paid in addition to your deposit and first month’s rent
- Underwriting: guarantor companies have their own income requirements — usually 27x to 50x monthly rent in income
- Coverage: they co-sign the lease. If you miss rent, the guarantor pays the landlord and comes after you.
Providers in Texas:
- Insurent — one of the most widely accepted
- TheGuarantors — common in Dallas Uptown and Houston high-rises
- Jetty — often accepted in garden-style communities
- Cosign — growing acceptance
- Oneapp Guarantee, Liberty Rent — newer providers, spot acceptance
Not every community accepts every provider. That’s where we come in.
What guarantors solve (and don’t)
They solve: financial risk. Bad credit, no credit history, insufficient income (with a guarantor covering the shortfall), international workers with no US credit file.
They don’t solve: behavioral risk. Evictions, broken leases, and criminal records are not financial risks — they’re patterns that guarantor companies don’t cover. Some Texas communities accept a guarantor for credit issues but still deny for an eviction. Some accept it for both. The community selection matters.
Read our guarantor vs. deposit vs. co-signer comparison for the full trade-off analysis.
Total move-in cost
On a $1,500/month unit, a guarantor-approved move-in usually looks like:
- Guarantor fee: $900-$2,160 (8% typical = $1,440)
- Security deposit: $500-$1,500 (varies)
- First month’s rent: $1,500
- Application/admin fees: $50-$200
Total upfront: $2,950-$5,360
We calculate this for your specific unit before you commit. Use our rent affordability calculator to size your target rent first.
How we solve it
We know which communities accept which providers (Insurent, TheGuarantors, Jetty, Cosign). We pre-qualify you for guarantor eligibility (checking that your income meets the 27-50x multiple). We advise on total move-in costs. And we identify communities where guarantor approval bypasses the credit threshold entirely — you don’t need to hit a credit minimum if the guarantor takes on the risk.
When to skip the guarantor
Sometimes a larger deposit or a personal co-signer costs less. For lower-priced units, a $500 additional deposit might be cheaper than a $1,440 guarantor fee. We tell you when that’s the case.
What to bring us
- Target rent range and metro
- Annual income (must meet 27-50x monthly rent multiple)
- Employment stability
- Which screening issue drove you to consider a guarantor
We’ll pre-qualify you and match you to the right Texas community within 2-4 business hours. Free.
