How do I rent an apartment on behalf of a small business?
July 15, 2013 4:13 PM   Subscribe

How do I rent an apartment on behalf of a small business?

I've been elected to find an apartment that will house traveling consultants for a new business. The apartment owners we find on Craigslist in our price range request things that an individual would provide: a credit check, a paystub, a letter of employment, etc.

1. What similar assurances can a new business offer a landlord? We can write a check to cover a few more months of rent... I can present my information, but I don't think that would adequately represent the company.

2. Is Craigslist the right place to look for such a thing? We are looking at a low price point, so I don't think an agent would be able to assist us.
posted by jander03 to Work & Money (2 answers total)
 
Can you call or email some landlords and explain the situation? They may be able to tell you what they require in your case.

I've rented apartments on behalf of a company before, and we usually submit the same packet of information that we submit when we open a new account. The first thing that comes to mind is a letter of credit, but you should check with your accounts payable folks and see what they usually submit or what vendors usually ask for.

The landlords just want to know that someone is going to pay the rent, and that that someone (or larger entity like a business) is good for it.

You may have better luck working with a large management company rather than some guy who owns a tenement somewhere, because the larger company has probably dealt with this before and has a policy on it.
posted by Sara C. at 4:22 PM on July 15, 2013


Best answer: I've done this several times, both through a private owner/craigslist and through a corporate apartment service.

What we've given them is a copy of our balance sheet (to show that we have more than enough to cover the cost of the apartment) and let them run a credit check if they want (I don't believe anyone ever has, though). They have a lease, the owner/signor of the company signs the lease, we cut them a few checks, done. Then I make sure they know that it's me, not the people staying in the apartment, who should be the point person for payments.

It's all been really, really simple.

You can also generally cut a deal for reduced rent rate if you'll be staying somewhere for a long time (like, on the order of months) because they'd rather have the security of having an occupied space than a bunch of people on various short-term leases.
posted by phunniemee at 4:30 PM on July 15, 2013


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