What a lease guarantor company costs

Many landlords, especially in New York City, want renters to earn about 40 times the monthly rent each year, and a personal guarantor to earn about 80 times, according to Brick Underground. Neither number is set by law. They're common landlord and broker practice. At New York's typical rent of $4,089 a month in September 2026, according to RentDataNow data built on the Zillow Observed Rent Index, that's an income of about $163,560 for the renter, or about $327,120 for a guarantor.

Few renters have a parent or friend who clears that bar, so a handful of companies sell the service instead. The company signs on as the guarantor and pays the landlord if the renter doesn't, and the renter pays the company a fee.

On a $4,089 New York apartment, TheGuarantors' range works out to roughly $1,636 to just over $4,089, and Insurent's to about $2,862 to $3,680. Both TheGuarantors and Leap say the fee is per lease, not per person, so roommates can split it. Insurent asks US renters for an annual income of at least 27.5 times the monthly rent, or about $112,450 at that typical New York rent, and decent to good credit. Rhino and Jetty, two other names renters may know, have rebranded as Greenlight Rent, which doesn't publish a lease-guarantee price.

The fee buys protection for the landlord, not the renter. Regulators have taken notice of the industry. In 2022, New York's Department of Financial Services fined TheGuarantors $199,000 after finding that lease bonds it filed and the state approved as 12-month coverage only covered nine months. And a May 2026 report from the National Consumer Law Center flagged non-refundable fees as a key problem with security deposit alternatives and noted that landlords may encourage or even require tenants to use them.

There are cheaper routes worth trying first. In New York, a landlord can't take more than one month's rent as a deposit, and the state attorney general's office says that means a landlord can't ask for both last month's rent and a security deposit, so offering a big upfront payment to get around the income rule is limited there. A co-signer with good credit is another option, which we cover in do you need a cosigner or guarantor. Florida law lets landlords offer a fee in place of a deposit, but the tenant must be told the fee is non-refundable if it is and can switch to a regular deposit at any time.

Before you pay, get the exact fee in writing, check whether it's quoted as a share of one month's rent or of the full lease, and ask what happens if the deal falls through. For what else landlords look at, see the income landlords require.

Sources

• Brick Underground (December 30, 2025), for the 40x and 80x income rules

• TheGuarantors, products and pricing and FAQ

• Insurent, information for renters

• Leap

• Greenlight Rent

• New York Department of Financial Services consent order (June 28, 2022)

• National Consumer Law Center (May 20, 2026)

• New York Attorney General, residential tenants' rights guide; New York General Obligations Law 7-108; Florida Statutes 83.491

• RentDataNow New York City rent data, anchored to the Zillow Observed Rent Index, September 2026