What do you do when you're just off the plane from Iran... you barely speak english, don't have a job and need an apartment for your mom and 10 year old brother but have no way of paying for it? Such is the story of this 20-something girl that really, really wants to live in our building. She and her family arrived about 2 months ago and desperatly need a place to live. So much so that every time we talk she says, "Please don't rent. Keep for us." The first problem is they want to have all three of them plus a dad that comes back and forth from Iran live in a one bedroom. And at first i was going to go with it because i've really stopped caring about this place and have grand (likely dilusional) ideas about moving out this summer. The second problem is we have this 2 person per room policy that i'd have to violate in order to do it sneak them in. Just incase my dreams are smashed, i should probably stay in good graces with the management, dang it. When I say can only rent to 2 of the 4, they decide just the mom and the boy will live there and the girl will try and find a roommate. They also need a cosigner because there's not one shred of work, residence, or credit history between them in the US which becomes problem number 3.

So, they come with the co-signer this afternoon and the application says she has a house payment of 1200 dollars a month and she makes 1300 dollars a month. And i was trying to explain that there is no way she makes enough money to be approved as a cosigner. 100 bucks left over after paying her mortgage just wasn't going to cut it. "But my husband pays for the house and all that," she says. So i suggest having him be the cosigner or the Dad... it sounds like he's making money somewhere. "But he gets paid in cash. What if i put my yearly salary of 20,000 a year?" Oh no. they are in trouble.

Then the cosigner starts begging me, "please, they have no one else here, they just arrived can't you do something?" Fortunately, for me and unfortunately for them the system is so much bigger than me. i have zero power to do anything.

So, they leave, faces downcast and with the applications in hand so they can try to find someone who makes at least twice the 1050 rent. Honestly, i think our requirement is actually 3x the rent to be approved, so they are pretty much screwed.

Makes my heart break.