Why are parents applying for apartments on behalf of adult children?
Parents frequently attempt to handle rental searches and applications for their adult children while refusing to provide mandatory personal information like phone numbers or Social Security numbers. This interference creates severe communication hurdles and stalls the process, as parents often unrealistic properties and withhold necessary details that property managers require to approve a lease.
What people tried
Every workaround mentioned in the threads below. We haven’t tested any of them — and nobody here is claiming they worked.
- 1telling parents to have their kids call
- 2adding them to the ignore list
- 3adding 'No third parties' to the rental ad description
- 4rejecting applicants when parents try to handle the process
In their words
Unedited, most upvoted first, each linked to the thread it came from.
“I don’t know how many more times I can hear “i’m sourcing a rental for my college age child” or “i’m looking to find a rental property for my child and their spouse and their 3 kids” before I just start telling parents to have their kids call.”source ↗
“Also in the plethora of experiences i’ve had with these kinds of parents, yall are often searching for a unicorn of a property for your child that is just not feasible.”source ↗
“I also love the "we're not giving you our ssn number". Sorry no number no apt.”source ↗
“Hell I had an applicant tell me be wouldn't even give me his phone number before the tour.”source ↗
“I had a parent applying as a guarantor this morning tell me "Why do I need to provide my Phone number i'm not living there"😭”source ↗
“I'm an ACM in a luxury high rise and I literally get parents looking for their 30 year old children”source ↗
Where this came up
People with this problem also raised
- 3Why do Airbnbs have cleaning fees and chore lists?
- 3How to find reliable property management for a small multifamily building
- 2Any companies offer rental discounts?
- 5How to track appliance warranties and maintenance between tenants
- 6When your family treats household chores like an IT help desk
- 2Why do property managers still have to collect rent in person?