If you’re, for example, hunting for an apartment, you should know that it’s highly possible that the landlord of the apartment you’re thinking about renting will want to verify that you could actually make the monthly payments fully and on time. Because of this, they’ll probably ask you for proof of income in addition to the application you’ll send them.
But, what happens if you’re employer doesn’t offer proof of income, also known as a real paystub? We’ll you should know that there are some other documents that you could submit with your application, and those documents are exactly what we’ll discuss in this article today. So, let’s take a look at some alternatives that you can choose:
1. For Employed Individuals: Income Statement, Known as W-2
Since you cannot submit a real paystub, you could choose to submit an earnings statement, also commonly referred to as a W-2 report. What is this? Well, a W-2 is basically a tax form, and every single employer out there needs to complete one for each of their employees. In fact, they’re obligated to complete this form by law.
The form will state your overall annual wages, which means that the document will show the full picture of your total income. Now, keep in mind, this is for an entire year, it isn’t divided by months, however, it’s still a legit report that people could use for determining what your monthly salary is.
2. For Contractors & Self-Employed Individuals – Miscellaneous Revenue, Known as 109-MISC
If you’re an independent contractor or if you’re self-employed, you could choose to use a 1099-MICS form that’ll reveal a wide range of income types that you might have received in the past. This means that you won’t need to submit a real paystub, instead, you could obtain this form.
Besides this, if you’re someone who receives money from royalties or different assets, this form is also a suitable way for showing your assets, hence, you should seriously consider it if you’re in this situation. Remember, this option is for self-employed people, so it might not be suitable for you in other situations.
3. For The Daring – A Bank Statement is Also an Option
Now, the very first thing that you should know about this alternative is that you might not feel comfortable with it, mostly because it’ll reveal too much about you. After all, the person looking at this document will see what you usually spend your money on, which could easily be too personal and intrusive.
But, if you don’t have a problem with this and if you don’t have a real paystub to show to your landlord, you could choose to obtain your bank statement. Keep in mind, there are a lot of things that this document might reveal about you, hence, be careful about your spending habits for some time.
4. If You Want to Save Time – Make Your Own, Real Paystub
A real paystub will show how much cash you receive from your company during each month, and it’ll also reveal the exact amount of money you’ll take home. Now, if you don’t receive it from your company, you could utilize platforms such as this site that’ll allow you to get a real paystub by using a free paystub maker.
By doing so, you’ll be capable of submitting all the required information to the form a free paystub maker provides you with, and once you’re done, you could send it to your email address. Keep you’ll want to check the stubs you make completely, in order to ensure that they’re suitable for your needs.
5. If You’re Good With Your Boss – A Letter From Your Employer
If you don’t want to spend some time on creating a real paystub or if you don’t want to worry about having to check stubs to find some mistakes that you have made, you could ask your employer for a letter of reference. After all, it’s one of the best ways to show that you have a stable income, and more importantly, it’ll ensure that the landlord trust you.
Hence, if you have a good relationship with your boss, you could ask them to write a letter of recommendation for you. You could even make things easier for them by downloading a template and giving it to them, mostly because they’ll simply need to fill in the blanks, so they won’t need a lot of time for completing it.
6. Obtain The IRS 1040 Form
Yet another form that you could obtain is from the IRS, the 1040 form in order to report your yearly income. But, this report won’t only show how much your earnings each year, it’ll also show every single source of revenue that you have, which means that it’ll include any additional income coming from your assets or royalties.
Besides you obtaining and providing this document to your potential landlord, they could easily request a copy directly from the IRS, hence, even if you do have this paper or any other document to present, they could still decide to check this, especially if they want to be extra sure about your income.
7. Get a Benefit Letter
For any individual that receives benefits such as the ones for retirement, disability, or SSI, a benefits verification letter might be suitable. You could obtain it by sending an email to the SSA – Social Security Administration. Besides the aforementioned things, it’ll also provide details on any additional income that you might have.
8. A Workers’ Comp Report
Last on this list, but also a possible solution to some of your problems is to get a workers’ comp letter. This report will show any income you’re receiving as a part of your compensation for getting injured at work, hence, if you’re in this particular situation, this might be a suitable option for you.
Conclusion
Although you may not be receiving any proof of income reports from your company, there are other alternatives that you could obtain. Depending on your situation and working status, one of the aforementioned options should be suitable for your requirements and needs.
So, now that you have learned what you could utilize as proof of income, you shouldn’t really lose any more of your free time. Instead, determine which of the strategies from above suits your needs best and then begin working on obtaining the document in order to secure that apartment you really like.
