We have done this quite a few times with both our daughters. Talk to the other parents before co-signing.
We never had trouble with friends not paying their share.

As for whether this cosigning request is standard, I don't know. It could be a very localized thing. I do remember that when I got my first job after college (way back in 1987) that my mom had to co-sign for my apartment. At that time it was because my expected income didn't meet the requirements for the particular apartment. That could be the case with your son -- he's the only one with a real income, but this is probably a 3BR place, so pricier than he can qualify for on his own.

Some private housing for college students is set up in "suites" of four bedrooms, two-each sharing a bath, and a living/dining/kitchen in the middle. These are typically designed to be leased by the individual room, with the student (and his cosigning parents) on the hook for just his room, but not the other three rooms.

But in a typical set-up, you're dealing with what is called joint and several liability. This means that each person on the lease -- including cosigners -- is equally liable for the FULL amount of the lease. And in most cases the landlord is free to collect from whomever he feels is most likely to pay. IOW, if you're the only parent on the lease, and something goes wrong, then he's going to come after you rather than chase down a couple of college kids, because he's going to take the easiest route. Best case scenario is a parent of each of the boys agrees to co-sign, and all are fairly local (landlord will go after the most local solvent person before trying to go after someone far away or out of state).

I'm no lawyer, but a frequent watcher of Judge Judy...don't cosign the lease unless you are willing to be financially responsible for the whole thing as that may be where it ends up.

I don't know if creating a separate contract with the other parents where you all agree to be responsible for 1/3 of the lease and any associated fees would solve the issue, but it might.

will I be responsible for the two friends, if they fail to pay rent? And by signing, could I be held responsible for any damage to the apartment?

Yes and yes.

We did this for the DH's nephew and his two friends. 2 of them lost their jobs and everyone eventually moved out and back home. We were stuck with the remaining months on the lease and the damages plus cleaning. We paid because we didn't want our credit ruined. They went after the boys first but when they didn't, couldn't, wouldn't pay they came to us. Lesson learned!

i think it's pretty typical to have to cosign on a lease when students are renting apts...

if they're your son's friends and he knows them well and you know your son and his way of life well and approve of it, i wouldn't have a problem cosigning. i would want the other parents to cosign too (as a landlord and as a parent).
i think it's pretty unlikely that a sr in college or a grad student will be dropping out of school, so i would think they would be pretty unlikely to move out...

I would talk to the landlord and ask specifically what each tenets responsibilities are. In college areas, things are often different than in the "real world".

In both of my son's cases, we had to cosign on the apt. as they had no income to cover the rent being full time students.

Each student's parent had to cosign their application and in essence were cosigning that they would be responsible for that "third" of the rent. So in essence, each tenet was responsible for one third of the rent and their parents as well.

I would only sign for my child and let other's sign for their own child. It's only fair.

It seems to me, the only way this would work, is if each parent would be liable for 1/3rd of any financial obligation no matter which of the three children were responsible.

I co-signed for my son, but he lives alone and is a very responsible adult. I would not co-sign for my own child if I thought he wasn't responsible. I would never co-sign for someone else's child which is essentially what you would be doing.

Also, a co-signer wouldn't just be responsible for rent.

Consider this scenario: What if your child isn't at home and the other tenets decide to have a party where significant damages occur. The landlord isn't going to care which of the tenets are responsible, he's going to go after all the parents. Can you imagine that fiasco?

Talking to the landlord will mean nothing unless what is agreed upon is also in writing. Once you have a signed document, no amount of oral agreement can modify that document. Any modifications or additional agreements must be added to the document and signed by all parties.

We were able to avoid that situation most of the time.

In one instance the landlord wanted all 3 sets of parents to co-sign the lease. We called the other parents and told them of our reluctance to sign and our reasons. They had no clue that they could be financially responsible. We jointly decided to talk with the landlord and offered a 2 month security deposit and both the first and last months rent. That was a big chunk
of money up front but it was worth it to forgo being on the lease. He accepted that and they lived happily ever after............

And we even got 95% of our security deposit returned when the boys went their separate ways.

All 3 of my kids have shared apartments with friends or classmates and all kinds of unexpected things happened. One of my son's room mates moved out without telling anyone and didn't leave a forwarding address and didn't answer his phone. Even though he was on the lease and owed 1/3 of the rent the 2 remaining room mates had to pay the full amount. The landlord wasn't going to go after the missing kid when he still had 2 in the apartment. Luckily there were only 2 months left on the lease so my son and his remaining room mate split the security deposit.

Just make sure all the kids have the maximum renter's insurance.

This post was edited by maire_cate on Fri, Jun 14, 13 at 12:40

Thank you all for responding with your thoughts, experiences, and expertise. DS showed me a copy of the lease and it does have that signers are jointly and severally responsible. Thank you Jakabedy, I wouldn't have known what that meant without your post.

There are some clauses in the lease which make me think the kids need to keep looking. The lease is not a standard one and lists fines for so much stuff that it would almost be impossible to not incur one.

I think co-signing this lease would deprive me of a good night's sleep for a year.

This post was edited by barb5 on Fri, Jun 14, 13 at 15:59

If it gives you bad vibes, that is your answer for sure.

I've never needed a co-signer, but then again I rented as a grad student, which most landlords assume you are independent or supporting yourself as grad assistant.

I know individual leases are very common especially if it's a larger school in a college town, so you may want to have them look for those.

I have no idea if my current undergrads need co-signers. I don't live near campus, so I don't know if that's common or not, and I've never heard anyone discuss it.

I'd suggest you familiarize yourself with the landlord tenant laws in your state (the state where your son is renting). Most states have a website through their state Attorney General, or a tenant rights organization or Legal Aid office. In some states, the clauses you mention wouldn't be legal and even if they are in a signed lease, they are not enforceable because they are not legal. You can't sign your legal rights away. Whether they rent from this guy or someone else, it's really good to know your rights as a tenant.