It could be a boon to landlords in places like San Francisco and New York in particular because rent growth has far outstripped income gains in recent years. Cliff Finn, executive vice president of new development at Douglas Elliman in New York, said 10% to 30% of the tenants in buildings he is leasing are now insured through TheGuarantors. Some of New York City’s largest apartment complexes, from the 11,200-unit Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village on Manhattan’s East Side to the 1,258-unit Gotham West complex near Hudson Yards, are willing to accept TheGuarantors, the company said. “It reduces the exposure to vacancy,” said Jonathan Miller, president of appraisal firm Miller Samuel, who sits on TheGuarantors’s advisory board. “It basically opens it to another category of tenant.”

http://www.wsj.com/articles/startup-offers-payment-insurance-for-apartment-hunters-1475000792#livefyre-comment