It is common practice for landlords to confirm your income prior to allowing you to rent an apartment unit. The landlord make ask you to provide pay stubs or bank statements, but one of the usual ways a landlord will confirm your income is with a letter of employment.
Never Heard of a Letter of Employment?
A letter of employment is a statement written by your employer to your landlord articulating your job title, duration of employment, and how much your income is. Large, corporate businesses deal with these requests all the time, but you work for a smaller company, it would be wise to allow your employer ample time to write a well thought out letter of employment. The more your employer speaks well on your behalf, the more likely the landlord will want to rent to you.
Acquire a Letter of Employment
When your landlord asks you for your letter of employment, the best thing you can do is speak to your human resources department promptly. Tell them you are in need of a letter of employment because you are looking to lease an apartment. If your company is small enough to where there is not a human resources department at your place of work, speak to your manager and ask them who to talk to. If you want to earn some brownie points with your employer, give them a template of a letter of employment to save their time and rest assured all the required information is included in the letter. How you intend to deliver your letter of employment needs to be discussed with your manager or human resources department. If your employer plans to mail the letter out, make sure you supply the landlord with the proper address, fax number, and email of your employer. You need to know your landlord is content with your letter of employment. When your employer mails out the letter, call your landlord to confirm you have provided everything they need. Should the landlord request the letter of employment written straight from your employer, do not be offended, as letters of employment are easy to fake. Should you hand the letter of employment over to the landlord yourself, a cover letter will need to be created to verify you are delivering an authentic document. It may not seem like much, but a cover letter will prove to the landlord you are a responsible renter.
Unable to Acquire A Letter of Employment?
If you are not able to obtain a letter of employment, ask the landlord if they will accept a substitute, such as a paystub or W-2 to confirm your income. When you give your employer a solid template of a letter of employment and the landlord’s contact information is completely correct, any procrastination or misunderstanding will be prevented on your employer’s end. More often than not, you should be able to acquire a letter of employment.
