You can secure nine months without U.S. credit through a negotiated market-rate lease with accepted financial backing or a lawful sublease, but not through a nine-month rent-stabilized vacancy lease.
“My husband and I are international students moving to NYC. We need a 9-month lease for a studio under $2500, but we don't have US credit scores. How can we secure an apartment or sublease without a credit history?”
Summary
Having no U.S. score does not make you ineligible; it means you need a stronger document package and a landlord-approved guarantor or a properly documented sublease. The law also limits how owners may turn that missing score into application charges, extra deposits, or discriminatory treatment.
You have two workable nine-month routes, while one tempting direct-lease route does not fit your required term.
Ask for an expressly written nine-month term and submit one combined file with photo identification, bank statements, funding or income verification, references, and details. Fordham’s student guide identifies those documents, while Columbia says renters without credit can use an individual or institutional guarantor; obtain the owner’s written acceptance of the guarantor arrangement before buying any service.
Target an existing tenant who will be away for nine months and will provide the main lease, proposed sublease, and proof of owner consent. In a four-or-more-unit building, RPP §226-b requires the prime tenant’s certified-mail request and gives the owner up to 30 days after the request—or later receipt of reasonably requested information—to answer; no timely answer is deemed consent.
A direct vacancy lease for a must be for one or two years at your option under 9 NYCRR 2522.5(a)(1), not nine months. A lawful nine-month sublease of a stabilized apartment can still work if the prime tenant intends to return and the HCR limits are met.
Neither route guarantees a studio below $2,500; confirm the term, total mandatory monthly price, screening standard, and accepted guarantor in writing before applying.
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Watch out for
Next steps
Follow steps 1-2 for every listing, then use either the direct-lease or sublease branch before verifying the deal and paying.
Before contacting listings
Build one application file for both of you
Combine the documents into one ready-to-send file. Do not claim income or support you cannot document; use your actual bank funds, funding, references, and proposed to replace the missing U.S. credit history.
Requirements
Before paying an application charge
Pre-screen the listing in writing
Ask the owner or agent to confirm four points in writing: the unit is available for exactly nine months; the rent and all mandatory monthly charges stay within $2,500; the unit is market-rate or rent-stabilized; and the named guarantor arrangement is accepted. If it is a direct rent-stabilized vacancy lease, remove it from the nine-month direct-lease route because 9 NYCRR 2522.5(a)(1) requires one or two years.
Requirements
Direct-lease branch
Apply for the market-rate lease
For the credit and background checks together, pay no more than the owner’s actual cost or $20, whichever is less. If you supply a qualifying credit or background check from the prior 30 days, RPP §238-a requires the fee to be waived; if the owner charges the fee, obtain the report and the provider’s receipt or invoice. Do not agree to a deposit or advance above one month’s rent. A landlord’s or listing agent’s broker fee is prohibited; a broker you voluntarily hire may charge you.
Requirements
Sublease branch
Document the sublease before accepting it
For a building with at least four residential units, have the use the certified-mail procedure in RPP §226-b and give you the paper trail. The request must identify the term, proposed subtenant, relevant addresses, reason, any co-tenant or guarantor consent, and include the proposed sublease with the main lease if available. The owner may request reasonable added information within 10 days and must answer within 30 days after the request or later receipt of that information; no timely answer is deemed consent. For a stabilized sublet, stay within the two-of-four-year rule and the 10% maximum furniture addition.
Requirements
Before transferring money
Verify the deal and make traceable payments
Use the New York Department of State Public License Search at https://appext20.dos.ny.gov/nydos/selSearchType.do to verify any broker, independently confirm the property is on the market, and inspect it. Do not pay an agent directly or use cash; make deposits and fees payable to the proper landlord, owner, or broker of record, request everything in writing, and keep receipts. Under the FARE Act, all required rental fees must be clearly disclosed, and the landlord or agent must give an itemized written disclosure before lease signing.
Requirements
Only if a report affected the result
Use your screening rights after an unfavorable decision
If a consumer report contributed to denial, a co-signer demand, higher rent, or another unfavorable term, obtain the . It must identify the reporting company and explain your right to dispute inaccurate information and request a free copy from that company within 60 days. For immigration-status or national-origin discrimination, file with the NYC Commission on Human Rights through 311 or 212-416-0197.
Requirements
Legal sources
The answer is grounded in New York statutes and regulations, NYC DCWP and CCHR guidance, HCR fact sheets, FTC FCRA guidance, and official university renter education.
NY RPP § 238-a
New York caps the combined credit/background-check charge, allows a recent report to waive it, and requires the applicant to receive the report and receipt.
§ 238-a(1)(b)
A landlord, lessor, sub-lessor or grantor may charge a fee or fees to reimburse costs associated with conducting a background check and credit check, provided the cumulative fee or fees for such checks is no more than the actual cost of the background check and credit check or twenty dollars, whichever is less, and the landlord, lessor, sub-lessor or grantor shall waive the fee or fees if the potential tenant provides a copy of a background check or credit check conducted within the past thirty days. The landlord, lessor, sub-lessor or grantor may not collect the fee or fees unless the landlord, lessor, sub-lessor or grantor provides the potential tenant with a copy of the background check or credit check and the receipt or invoice from the entity conducting the background check or credit check.
NY GOL § 7-108
A normal NYC rental cannot use a larger deposit or advance to compensate for missing credit, subject to the stated narrow exceptions.
§ 7-108(1-a)(a)
No deposit or advance shall exceed the amount of one month's rent, unless the deposit or advance is for a seasonal use dwelling unit as provided for in subdivisions four and five of this section, or unless the deposit or advance is for an owner-occupied cooperative apartment as provided for in subdivision six of this section.
NYC FARE Act
The FARE Act removes a landlord-agent broker fee from your costs while preserving the fee for a broker you voluntarily hire.
The Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses (FARE) Act took effect on June 11, 2025. This law prohibits brokers who represent landlords from charging broker fees to tenants. The Law does not prohibit: tenants from choosing to hire their own broker and pay broker fees; tenant brokers from advertising their services to tenants. In all advertisements or listings of rental apartments: no one can include an unlawful broker fee; and all fees that prospective tenants must pay to rent an apartment must be disclosed in a clear and conspicuous manner.
NY RPP § 226-b
This is the controlling procedure the prime tenant must use for a nine-month sublease in a building with at least four residential units.
§ 226-b(2)(a)-(c)
A tenant renting a residence pursuant to an existing lease in a dwelling having four or more residential units shall have the right to sublease his premises subject to the written consent of the landlord in advance of the subletting. Such consent shall not be unreasonably withheld. Within thirty days after the mailing of the request for consent, or of the additional information reasonably asked for by the landlord, whichever is later, the landlord shall send a notice to the tenant of his consent or, if he does not consent, his reasons therefor. Landlord's failure to send such a notice shall be deemed to be a consent to the proposed subletting.
HCR Fact Sheet #7, FS-07 (07/2022)
HCR explains the duration, return-intent, furniture-surcharge, and overcharge rules for a rent-stabilized sublease.
Fact Sheet #7, pages 1-2
A lease assignment conveys to another person all the tenant’s rights to occupy the apartment, whereas a sublet is based upon a temporary absence by the prime tenant who intends to return to the apartment at the end of the sublease. A tenant may not sublet the apartment for more than two years out of the four-year period before the termination date of the sublease. If the prime tenant sublets the apartment fully furnished, the prime tenant may charge an additional rent increase for the use of the furniture. This increase may not exceed ten percent of the lawful rent. If the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) finds that the prime tenant has overcharged the subtenant, the prime tenant will be required to refund to the subtenant three times the overcharge.
9 NYCRR § 2522.5(a)(1)
A direct rent-stabilized vacancy lease must use a one- or two-year term rather than nine months.
§ 2522.5(a)(1)
For housing accommodations other than hotels, upon the renting of a vacant housing accommodation, the owner shall provide to the tenant a copy of the fully executed lease for a one- or two-year term, at the tenant's option (except where a mortgage or mortgage commitment existing as of April 1, 1969 prohibits the granting of one-year lease terms), bearing the signature of the owner and tenant and the beginning and ending dates of the lease term, within 30 days from the owner's receipt of the vacancy lease signed by the tenant.
HCR Fact Sheet #26, FS-26 (07/2026)
HCR’s July 2026 guidance confirms that the one- and two-year Rent Guidelines Board adjustments still apply to vacancy leases.
Fact Sheet #26
Changes to the rent regulations effective November 8, 2023 further clarify that the Rent Guidelines Board one or two year lease guidelines adjustments shall be applicable to both vacancy and renewal leases.
NYC Human Rights Law guidance
Your international-student or perceived immigration status cannot lawfully be the reason for refusal or worse rental terms in NYC.
In New York City, you cannot be discriminated against because of your actual or perceived immigration status or your national origin in employment, housing, and public spaces such stores, hospitals, and movie theaters. It is illegal for landlords or other housing providers to refuse to sell, rent, or lease housing—or to do so with different terms, conditions, or privileges—because of someone’s immigration status or national origin.
FCRA landlord guidance
If a tenant-screening report contributes to an unfavorable decision, you receive notice and report-dispute rights.
After You Take an Adverse Action
If you reject an applicant, increase the rent or deposit, require a co-signer, or take any other adverse action based partly or completely on information in a consumer report, you must give the applicant or tenant a notice of that fact in writing, electronically, or orally. The notice must include: the name, address, and phone number of the CRA that supplied the report; a statement that the CRA that supplied the report did not make the decision to take the unfavorable action and can't give specific reasons for it; and a notice of the person’s right to dispute the accuracy or completeness of any information the CRA furnished, and to get a free report from the CRA if the person asks for it within 60 days.
Fordham New York Housing Process guide
Fordham’s student guide supplies a concrete no-credit application-file checklist, but its older suggestion of a larger deposit is superseded by current state law.
Chapter Two, The New York Housing Process
Once you have found a suitable apartment, you will have to go through a complicated approval process, which involves filling out an application, providing references from people who can vouch for your reliability (you can ask your international student advisor, an employer, a previous landlord, professors, friends and family), documenting your financial resources and submitting to a credit check (proof that you have a history of paying your bills on time). Photo ID (passport or driver’s license). Bank account information (account numbers and recent statements, if available). Verification of income.
Columbia University Renter’s Education
Columbia identifies individual and institutional guarantors as practical alternatives when the applicant lacks U.S. credit.
Off-Campus Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t have a credit history you can use guarantors. Landlords usually only accept guarantors that live in the city or the surrounding Tri-state area so they can sign an original copy of the lease. If this isn’t the case, like for many students, you may need to use an institutional guarantor like RHINO.
NY Department of State Consumer Alert
New York’s Department of State gives the checks to perform before paying a landlord, sublessor, or broker.
Rental-scam prevention tips
Verify that the real estate professional you are dealing with is licensed in the State of New York by visiting the Department of State’s Public License Search. Confirm that the property you are interested in is legitimately on the market. Avoid paying any advance fees or deposits before having an opportunity to inspect the premises. Never give checks or wire money directly to the agent. Agents must be paid directly from their broker of record. Deposits and fees should never be in the name of the agent. Request everything in writing, and get receipts. Never complete transactions in cash.
These are the official rules as published on the cited dates; housing rules and agency guidance can change.
This is general information about official processes, not legal advice, and SettleKit is not a law firm.
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