Income Qualification Standards
Thank you for your interest in the apartment communities managed, operated or owned by Lightner Property Group. There are a number of ways to economically qualify for our rental units. Our policies have been designed to insure that all qualified applicants are provided an equal opportunity to qualify for and rent housing in our apartment communities based upon our tolerance for risk.
Please review the following qualification options to see which standard best fits your personal situation. If you have any questions, please feel free to call us at (415) 267-2900. Any staff member will be happy to assist you, or to direct your call to someone who can help you.
Regardless of the income standard you choose to apply under, each Application Standard requires:
- Acceptable prior landlord references.
- Excellent credit (unless noted otherwise, as in our Guarantor Option).
- A completed Application for each proposed adult occupant.
- At minimum, a standard deposit payment (25% of one months rent).
- A $35 payment for the application fee for each adult applicant (including any guarantor applications).
Regular Income Standard
All verifiable, lawful, consistent income is counted for the purposes of qualification for our Regular Income Standard. This includes salary, wages, fees, regular family gifts or contributions, investment income, interest income, retirement income, or employer paid contributions towards retirement. Funds that are lawful, verifiable, paid to and controlled by the applicant meet our definition of INCOME. Funds paid by third parties to someone other than the applicant do not quality as income under our definition, or the income definition adopted by the State of California. All claimed income must be verifiable, lawful and in addition must have been consistent for six months or longer (or 12 or more months in the case of non-wage business related income) in order to be counted as income.
Income that does not meet these non discriminatory neutral guidelines and standards will not be counted as income.
Employment Income
If you are employed you may submit the following to verify income:
- Your most recent paycheck stub plus a pay stub from six to twelve months from the date of your application; OR
-
Your W-2 form from the past year, plus your most recent pay stub.
Self-Employment Income
If you are self-employed please submit:
- Your federal income tax statements from the past two years (please countersign in blue ink); and
- Signed year-to-date income/expense or profit/loss statements and a current balance sheet.
Non-Employment Income
If you are relying on income which you receive from a source other than employment, please submit:
- Two or more statements (or check stubs) showing the income for six or more months; OR
- Your 1099’s from the past year plus a statement or check not more than 60 days old; OR
-
Your federal income tax statements from the past two years showing the income.
Alternative Income Standards:
If you do not believe you will qualify under our Regular Income Standard noted above, you may elect to apply under one of our Alternative Standards:
- Guarantor,
- Net Worth,
- Combination (Income and Net Worth),or
- Income and Expense.
Application Priority
Because we review the first completed application and only a single application at a time, the applicant or applicants must elect to apply under a single specific standard, at the time the application is submitted. If there is more than one applicant, the applicants must select a single application standard for the proposed household. Applicants for a single apartment unit may not apply under different standards. If you fail to qualify under the standard you initially choose, your application will be denied. If there is a back-up application, the back-up application will then be processed. You will not maintain your application priority once denied, regardless of the reason.
To be reconsidered after failing to qualify under your chosen standard, you will then need to reapply using another standard that you select. Therefore, we strongly recommend that you choose your economic standard carefully and select the one that best suits your household economic position.
A completed application must include all necessary payments (deposit and credit check fees), a signed rental brochure, the standard residential Rental Application, fully completed by each proposed adult occupant and guarantor(s), along with all necessary supporting documentation. If any portion of the application is missing, it will not be considered complete and will not be processed until the missing materials have been submitted. If the missing materials are not submitted, the application will not be reviewed and will be considered an abandoned application. Any payments will be mailed to the applicant(s) last known address if one has been provided. If not, the checks will be marked VOID and filed with the incomplete application.
