(1) Minimum of 3 times rent in gross household income. This is your monthly income before deductions — all applicants combined. (Housing Choice Voucher holders: Your voucher payment will be considered in our income calculation. Don’t forget to upload the front page of your voucher to the application.) (2) Good record of on-time bill payment. (3) Collections, charge-offs, bankruptcies, foreclosures must be explained. We will be particularly concerned about collections or charge-offs with utility companies. (4) Criminal convictions will be carefully evaluated for risk to property or neighbors, and for risk of not paying rent, in accordance with the Just Housing Ordinance. (5) Those with eviction filings within the last 7 years which were not dismissed will not be accepted without an explanation to our satisfaction. Evictions which were dismissed will be evaluated carefully and further research may be done. (6) We evaluate applicants based on an overall picture. We look at credit scores, but do not rely solely on them. We will consider circumstances of bankruptcies, foreclosures/short sales, high student loan debt and criminal records when making a rental decision.

Occupancy limits refer to the number of persons (including children) who will be allowed to occupy the rental residence. Most municipalities have occupancy limits and all buildings listed by us have occupancy limits. Please check the limit before scheduling an appointment or applying. OCCUPANCY LIMITS WILL BE STRICTLY ENFORCED.

There are several reasons that you might not have qualified to see an apartment. We have minimum income requirements. You may have indicated that you do not have enough income, do not have a co-signer, and are not a voucher holder. In this case, you will not be approved to rent the apartment. You may have indicated you have pets for a no-pets apartment. Or you may be trying to make an appointment to see a property which is available now, but you are not ready to move for more than 60 days. You will not be able to schedule this appointment. And don’t forget to read and verify that you understand that we do not represent you in this transaction, we represent the owner of the property.

Agents will wait for 15 minutes after the scheduled showing time unless you let us know by text, phone, or through the scheduling system, what time you will be arriving. No agent will wait longer than 30 minutes. Keep in mind, we may have another showing to get to after yours at a different location. We cannot always wait more than 15 minu

If an agent will be more than 5 minutes late for a showing, the agent will call you to let you know how long they will be. The system allows you to let us know you are waiting at a location. Keep in mind that we do showings all over the western suburbs and a lot of things can keep us from being on time. We try very hard not to keep people waiting. Please wait in the designated location (usually in front of the building) so the agent can find you.

Each adult who will reside on the premises must apply. An “adult” is anyone 18 years of age and older. All co-signers must apply.

This means you do not have enough credit activity on which to base a score. Since we do not use credit scores to make rental decisions, the simple absence of a score will not keep you from renting an apartment with us. We use your credit report to decide whether you have enough income to pay your bills, pay your rent, and cover basic living expenses. We also use it to determine your ability to make on-time payments.

Credit scores can be affected by things we don’t care about, like student loan debt and how many credit inquiries you had when getting a car loan. They can also be affected by activities we care about but which won’t rule you out, like a bankruptcy which is closed. We care about your on-time payment record since the bankruptcy. We are most interested in indicators that you can afford to pay your rent and the likelihood you will pay it on time each month.

Each adult (18 and over) must fill out an application and be approved BEFORE moving in. So your roommate must do the same. Find the application link on the homepage.

Pets are allowed in most of our rental units. If pets are allowed, the listing will say so. We follow municipal occupancy limits and breed restrictions, if any, for the town in which the property is located. If dogs are allowed, we will require you to bring your dog into our office for a brief temperament test. We are looking for aggressive tendencies and your dog’s ability to meet new people in an unfamiliar place and still behave. Your dog will most likely have to meet other dogs and people in hallways and coming in and out of the building. We are also assessing your dog’s propensity to relieve itself indoors. This temperament test is done after all human occupants have applied and been accepted. If your pet is approved, there will be an additional security deposit (varies by property and pet, but something like $250 per pet) on top of the ordinary security deposit. It is fully refundable if no damage occurs, and all rent and utilities are paid in full. Very few of the properties we represent charge additional monthly rent due to having a pet (known as “pet rent”). We love pets and expect that you will treat them with kindness and respect while living in our building. If you do not, you WILL be reported and the pet removed from the premises.