As you probably know, a guarantor is almost always required when renting a property, whether it's a house, an apartment, a student apartment or a room in a private home. This is also true for our Paris student accommodation. However, you may be wondering what a guarantor is for, who can be a guarantor, or how to find one. You will find all the information you need in this article.

Definition: What is a guarantor and why do you need one?

A guarantor is someone who stands as “insurance” if the tenant cannot pay their rent, and is therefore responsible for paying a debt to the landlord, in this case the unpaid rent. Beyond the financial aspect, the guarantor is also seen as a guarantee of commitment and security. Whether you are renting, sharing a furnished apartment or coliving in Paris, a guarantor will almost always be required by your landlord or the real estate agency that you have chosen.

The guarantor at Chez Nestor

As a French Chez Nestor tenant, the guarantor requirements are relatively simple. If you do not earn between €1,500 and €2,000 net (depending on the city you wish to move to), then you will need to have a guarantor, who can show proof of the financial means to cover your rent. The guarantor will have to earn a minimum of between 1 500 € and 2 000 € net. It is important to note that guarantors can not be shared between Chez Nestor roommates; since each roommate signs an individual lease, each also requires their own guarantor. 

However, if you are not French, then you will probably not need a guarantor when renting with Chez Nestor, because we make it our mission to facilitate access to housing for foreigners and Erasmus students! This is a great advantage and relief for international Chez Nestor students compared to other options.

Who can be a guarantor

There are two types of guarantors, legal entities or individual people. In most cases, it is a person (usually a family member or friend) who acts as guarantor.

The guarantor as an individual

This is a real person who physically exists. Most often it is the parents who act as guarantors for their children's first homes. However, it can be any family member such as siblings, aunts or uncles or grandparents. Landlords appreciate guarantors with permanent jobs or young retirees. However, a guarantor is not necessarily limited to family, any of your friends can also be a guarantor. If this is the case, however, your friend may not be perceived as sufficiently secure by a landlord. Indeed, it is common for a landlord to think that the family that stands as guarantor would be more "committed" than a third person, and it is up to the landlord who they will accept.

The guarantor as a legal entity

It is quite possible to use a guarantor in the form of a legal entity, i.e. a company or an association. If no member of your family wishes or is financially able to act as guarantor for your rental contract, then there are companies that can act as guarantor, often in exchange for money. This is usually calculated on a small proportion of your rent on a monthly or annual basis.

For example, the company Garantme, offers to act as guarantor for a fee ranging from 3% to 4% of the amount of your rent.

For example, for a rent of 800 € per month then Garantme will charge 28€ per month to act as your guarantor. 

There is another solution, this time free of charge, which allows you to have access to a guarantor, which is the Visale solution proposed by the State via Action Logement. Although this alternative can be considered, it does not cover as many aspects as a standard guarantor, which means that some landlords simply do not accept this form of guarantee. Unfortunately, we at Nestor do not accept this type of guarantor as it is not sufficiently developed online to work with our systems

What are the specificities of a shared apartment?

There is a specificity concerning the cases of flatshares. There are two types of guarantees. The individual and joint guarantee.

The Individual Bond

The individual guarantee is a guarantee that concerns only the person who is linked to it, this means that the tenant is only responsible for his own rent. This means that if another tenant defaults on his or her rent, the landlord will not be able to ask you to pay for him or her. This is the least dangerous solution for each roommate but it is also the solution that offers the least guarantees for the landlord.

Joint and several surety 

The joint and several guarantee, established by a solidarity clause in the lease, is often used by landlords to protect themselves in case of non-payment by one of the roommates who would also see his own guarantor unable to pay. Each roommate is thus co-responsible for the complete payment of rent and utilities.

At Nestor, you will not have a joint guarantee but an individual guarantee because we believe that you should not have to pay for your roommates' losses.

Little tip: If your landlord has subscribed to an unpaid rent insurance policy, then he will not have the right to impose a guarantor on you, except if you are a student or on a work-study placement. At Nestor, unlike other agencies, we don't always ask for a guarantor depending on your profile, but it's still much simpler to go through our digital agency when finding a flatshare in Paris.