It's Really Funny 'Cause I Got Your Fucking Money

I've been spoiled in apartment hunting.

Renting from relatives has been a boon, but now ojouchan and I need to find someplace new.

Yesterday, we found an apartment we really liked. It was spacious, in a decent location, and well within our budget.

Our budget, but apparently not theirs.

Today, when I tried to submit the applicationm the manager wouldn't accept it because:

• The management company demands that I show I make three times the rent in take-home pay, even though I've been budgeting rent at more like 40%.
  
• The fact that I just got a raise didn't matter because it didn't show up on my most recent pay stub.
  
• With the raise, the rent was about 37% of my take-home pay.
  
• The fact that Ojou will resume temping didn't matter because she didn't have a recent pay stub (despite moving into the city last week).

I'm just really fucking frustrated right now. I feel angry and small.

Right now our options appear to be

• Waiting until I can document my raise before we resume the hunt.
  
• Getting HR to reduce my withholding, to fool potential apartment-management companies into thinking I'm making more money.
  
• Finding an apartment not run by a company who demands that I make my budget according to their vision.
  
• Getting Ojou go back to work, something I was hoping to postpone until the end of the month.

My current landlord suggested asking my parents to cosign the lease, but I'm not comfortable with that.

We need to leave the carriage house by September 1. This is the first time that deadline looks dangerous. If any of the Angeleno readers have leads on apartments, I'd love to hear them.