Now You Can Get a Loan Only to Pay Rent
A Wall Street Journal report said rents are too high: lending companies are now selling loans specifically to those tenants who need help making ends meet.
Some of these companies cater to upscale apartment residents, while others lean towards those under stress in more modest homes and lower-income groups.
One such program, cited by the Wall Street Journal, is run by property management company Stay Tony , which allows corporate tenants in Los Angeles and Atlanta to finance leases for up to three months for 12 months. You can get a loan through its partner provider, Uplift , interest-free for the first six months with an interest rate of 15% to 17% thereafter.
Other names you may have seen are Domuso and Till , who contact property managers to facilitate rental payments, including through the loans they offer for full or partial leases. Till says on his website that his loans up to $ 2,000 are four times cheaper than payday loans or late fees.
The WSJ says one factor is rising rents, with average US rents hitting an all-time high of $ 1,006 a month earlier this year. In addition, he cites a report from the National Council for Multi-Family Residential Buildings, which says that 3% of surveyed tenants (out of more than 100,000) pay their rent using credit cards. If more landlords accepted rent by credit card, 16% of respondents said they would pay this way.
Loans designed specifically for tenants to pay rent may sound a little dubious, but they are far from the deep dark hell of a loan- to- payday cycle with exorbitant interest rates. But unlike a payday loan, you need to make sure your credit rating is in good shape before applying for a rental loan.
If you are concerned that you cannot pay your rent, be sure to read the fine print for the loan being offered through your landlord. The last person or company you want to breathe from is the one who controls not only your rent, but also the interest on the loan you took to pay the rent.
If you are evaluating rent and are worried about how you will pay rent after you move, now is the time to stop and reevaluate your housing costs . It’s not fun (and it may not be in all places), but reducing how much of your income goes to rent each month can help you create a financial cushion that prevents you from feeling “having to fight for rent.”