Edit 1: Thank you to all the people who are being respectful. I appreciate it.

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This is specifically for landlords in new york city.

Please do not take this the wrong way it's a genuine question and it's my first time in this market. If you disagree, please just steelman my argument I really want to know some opposing opinions.

If the lowest end of the renting spectrum starts at $2000, renters need a guarantor who makes at least $160,000 to qualify for most apartments (based on the 80x rule). How is this not illegal?

Making $160,000 puts you in the 91 percentile of Americans so the vast majority of people aren't related to someone who could be a guarantor.

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I use the term predatory specifically because when you use qualifying measures that only apply to the top 9% of Americans doesn't this disadvantage marginalized groups? If you are a well-qualified professional (finance, tech, etc) with a strong income but your family isn't wealthy (immigrants, first-gen college grads, PoC) guarantor restrictions make it impossible for you to rent in good neighborhoods. Maybe predatory isn't the right word - maybe it's discriminatory.

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Is everyone ruthless and just trying to hedge a bad tenant? How often do you realistically deal with a bad tenant - by bad I mean delinquent enough that the guarantor needed to pay their rent?

I am not one of those people who hate landlords but I do want someone to defend this action. It seems ridiculous and also self-destructive because ( and I admit I could be wrong) the people who can easily meet these guarantor requirements are mostly white individuals which definitely affects the diversity of a neighborhood which in turn makes it less appealing over time.