I am waiting on rental assistance. Should I say so?

Yes. You can record what you are expecting, roughly how much and roughly when, and it is printed in the agreement. It does not reduce the installments and none of them assume it arrives — that is deliberate, because assistance is often late — but a landlord deciding your request reads it very differently knowing money is on its way.

From the guide Payment Plans for Rent You Cannot Pay in Full.

Help you are expecting from somewhere else

If a housing authority, a charity or a family member is going to pay some of this, you can say so on the request — what it is, roughly how much, and roughly when. It is recorded for information and printed in the agreement, and a landlord deciding a request reads it very differently when they can see that money is on its way.

It changes nothing about the schedule. The installments are still the whole balance and none of them assume the help arrives — deliberately, because rental assistance is late or refused often enough that a plan built on it is a plan built to fail. If it does arrive, it simply pays some installments early.

Read the whole guide: Payment Plans for Rent You Cannot Pay in Full

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