The Money Mustache Community
General Discussion => Welcome and General Discussion => Topic started by: FiguringItOut on February 26, 2015, 11:25:41 AM
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Hi. I have two unrelated questions, but didn't feel like starting two separate threads.
1. Financial Aid for higher education.
I did some brief googling, but did not find the answer that I was able to understand. What happens when prospective college student fills out FAFSA and is given expected family contribution, but student's parents are divorced?
Do colleges give separate expected family contribution amount to each parent? Or is it one pot and both parents have to figure out how to split it? What if one parent refuses to contribute and other parent can't afford the whole amount?
2. Apartment Rental question for landlords
When you do a background check on prospective tenant, what do you look for? I will be looking to rent an apartment, but the mortgage on the house I currently live in is in my soon to be ex husband's name only. The apartment we rented prior to buying a house we rented from my parents. And apartment I rented before that was a long time ago - 15 yrs ago.
I can show a work history at current job of 3+ years plus my income plus the child support I will be receiving from my soon to be ex husband. I have different last name from my parents so I can ask them to give me tenant reference if necessary.
Do you think this is enough to be able to pass renter check?
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Can't answer completely, but a start maybe.
1. I'm guessing that you'd have to fill out the parent's section twice? Not sure though, it's been a long time. You can probably ask the financial aid office at your school.
2. My parents are landlords. My mom looks for paying bills on time. She's ok with some debt, however 80% of her decision is based on meeting the prospective tenants and income. With the income proof, in my experience you shouldn't have any trouble with a complex.
I haven't been asked for references that I recall, just emergency contacts. For that, someone local is best, but not necessarily required.
To get utilities, you may need to put down a deposit. The rules vary, but be aware of that possibility.
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Can't answer completely, but a start maybe.
2. My parents are landlords. My mom looks for paying bills on time. She's ok with some debt, however 80% of her decision is based on meeting the prospective tenants and income. With the income proof, in my experience you shouldn't have any trouble with a complex.
I haven't been asked for references that I recall, just emergency contacts. For that, someone local is best, but not necessarily required.
To get utilities, you may need to put down a deposit. The rules vary, but be aware of that possibility.
Thanks!
Then only debt I have to my name is my student loan. Mortgage was never in my name and our current car loan is in his name also. I will probably keep the car and take over the payments, but I do not want to refi car loan into my name. Will just keep it in his and pay it off as soon as possible.
As for utilities, I am less worried since most of our current utilities are in my name and are paid on time.
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I'm a landlord. I look at a credit report (paid on time, how much total debt do they have, are they 'normal' dumb with their money, or just plain stupid (rent to own, big credit card balances compared to income, etc.). I also call work references to make sure the employment is solid and the income is close to what is claimed. It sounds like I wouldn't have a problem with you and I expect most landlords would take a similar stance.
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1. Financial Aid for higher education.
I did some brief googling, but did not find the answer that I was able to understand. What happens when prospective college student fills out FAFSA and is given expected family contribution, but student's parents are divorced?
Do colleges give separate expected family contribution amount to each parent? Or is it one pot and both parents have to figure out how to split it? What if one parent refuses to contribute and other parent can't afford the whole amount?
The Federal government does not consider the income and assets of the non-custodial parent in determining a student's financial need. However, it does consider child support received by the custodial parent.
Many private colleges do consider the non-custodial parent as a potential source of support, and require a supplemental financial aid form from the non-custodial parent. This affects the awarding of the school's own aid, but not Federal and state aid.
http://www.finaid.org/questions/divorce.phtml
The Federal EFC is based only on the custodial parent. However, most schools do not rely solely on the FAFSA to calculate aid. My school used the CSS Profile, which takes into account many more factors, including non-custodial parent income. Each school has a different policy, so just be sure that your kid applies to state schools and private schools to try to get the best aid package.
In cases where they include the non-custodial parent's income, it's realllllly unfortunate if you have a medium- to high-earning non-custodial parent who refuses to pay for college. It's really hard to convince the college that the father is a cheapskate and won't pay (basically the kid would have to become qualified as an independent student, which is usually difficult if the parents exist and have some form of custody), so you'll be stuck paying off the higher amount. http://www.finaid.org/otheraid/parentsrefuse.phtml (I just skimmed this, but some of the tips are kinda weird. There's a tip for if you're Amish and banished from your community...)
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I'm a landlord. I look at a credit report (paid on time, how much total debt do they have, are they 'normal' dumb with their money, or just plain stupid (rent to own, big credit card balances compared to income, etc.). I also call work references to make sure the employment is solid and the income is close to what is claimed. It sounds like I wouldn't have a problem with you and I expect most landlords would take a similar stance.
Thank you for replying. The bolded part made me smile. Too funny but oh so true.