US credit score and guarantor: how to rent in New York

To rent an apartment in New York, two words come up in every exchange with a landlord or broker: credit score and guarantor. The first is a score that sums up your credit history in the United States; the second is the person or company that commits to paying the rent if you do not. A French newcomer generally has neither, and it is often what blocks an application, far more than the budget.

The context makes both elements decisive. In August 2026, the median rent reached $4,900 in Manhattan and $4,000 in Brooklyn according to the Jonathan Miller report cited by Brick Underground, and more than one in five Manhattan rentals was signed above the asking rent. Corcoran noted a vacancy rate of 1.51% in Manhattan, the lowest since 2019. Faced with several applicants, the landlord picks the application that reassures them fastest.

This page explains what a credit score is, what a New York landlord looks at, how a guarantor works, and what solutions exist when you arrive with no US history.

What is the US credit score?

A credit score is a number, generally between 300 and 850, used to predict how likely you are to repay your debts and pay on time, according to the Federal Trade Commission. It is calculated from your credit report, the record of your financial history held by the country's three major credit bureaus: Equifax, Experian and TransUnion. This report contains your name, address, social security number, credit cards, loans, amounts owed and any late payments.

The FTC specifies that landlords are among those who check this history, alongside banks, insurers and employers. A company can therefore ask for a credit check before renting you an apartment.

How the score is calculated

The most widely used model is FICO's. It weights five categories of information, for the general population:

• payment history (35%): have you paid your credit on time? This is the most important factor;
• amounts owed (30%): the share of your available credit that you use;
• length of credit history (15%): the age of your accounts, from the oldest to the newest;
• credit mix (10%): cards, instalment loans, mortgage;
• new credit (10%): opening several accounts in a short time is seen as a risk, especially without a long history.

FICO points out that the score relies only on the credit report. The landlord, for their part, also looks at your income, your job and how long you have been in it.

The problem for newcomers

Your French banking history is not passed on to the US credit bureaus. When you arrive, you therefore do not have a bad score: you have none at all. For a New York landlord, an application with no history is hard to assess, and they will ask for an additional guarantee.

Checking your report

As soon as you have a history, check it. The three bureaus let you view your report for free once a week on AnnualCreditReport.com, the only site authorised to issue the free reports provided by law. If you spot an error, you can dispute it. The score itself often costs money: the FTC advises reading "free" score offers carefully, as they are sometimes tied to a monitoring subscription.

What a landlord in New York looks at

The typical application includes an ID, proof of income (employment contract, payslips, tax return), recent bank statements and authorisation for a credit check. The most common rule is an annual income equal to 40 times the monthly rent: for a rent of $3,000, you need to show $120,000 a year. Sought-after apartments are rented within days, which is why it pays to have all these documents ready before the first viewing.