Money & tax
Master Leases in Corporate Housing: How the Model Works
How corporate housing operators lease units from communities and owners: landlord permission, the economics, break-even occupancy and the risks.
Who you are paying
A corporate housing operator's payables usually include:
| Payee | What for | Usually reported on |
|---|---|---|
| Cleaners, handymen, movers, setup crews | Services | 1099-NEC (if not a corporation) |
| HVAC, plumbing and other contractors | Services and repairs | 1099-NEC (if not a corporation) |
| Apartment communities and owners you lease from | Rent | 1099-MISC, box 1 (if not a corporation) |
| Attorneys | Legal services | 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC, even if a corporation |
| Furniture rental companies | Equipment rental | 1099-MISC, box 1 (if not a corporation) |
The threshold changed for 2026
For payments made through the end of 2025, the threshold for 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC was $600 a year per payee. The One Big Beautiful Bill Act raised it to $2,000 for payments made in 2026 and later, with the amount adjusted for inflation each year starting in 2027. Source: CPA Practice Advisor
Two things did not change: income below the threshold is still taxable to the person who received it, and you still need W-9s to know who is reportable.
The common exceptions
- Corporations. Payments to C and S corporations are generally not reported, with exceptions such as attorneys' fees. An LLC can be taxed as a corporation, a partnership or a sole proprietorship, so the W-9 tells you which.
- Card and payment network payments. Payments you make by credit card or through a payment network are reported by the processor on Form 1099-K, not by you on 1099-NEC or 1099-MISC.
- Rent paid to a property manager or real estate agent. You generally do not report rent paid to a real estate agent or property manager; they report the rent they pass on to the owner.
W-9s before the first payment
Get a Form W-9 from every vendor and landlord before you pay them. It gives you their legal name, their tax classification and their taxpayer identification number. Without a valid TIN you may have to apply backup withholding, currently 24%, to reportable payments.
Deadlines and e-filing
- Form 1099-NEC is due to recipients and the IRS by January 31.
- Form 1099-MISC is due to recipients by January 31 (February 15 for some boxes), and to the IRS by the end of February on paper or March 31 electronically.
- If you file 10 or more information returns in total for the year, you generally have to file them electronically. The IRS's free Information Returns Intake System (IRIS) is one way to do it.
Check the current year's dates in the IRS instructions; when a deadline falls on a weekend or holiday it moves to the next business day.
Master leases and 1099-MISC
If you lease units from apartment communities, your rent payments may be reportable. Many communities are owned by LLCs or partnerships rather than corporations, and the W-9 tells you which. If you pay a management company that collects for the owner, the management company usually reports, not you. More in our guide to master leases.
Make January boring
1099s are painful when the data is scattered across bank exports and spreadsheets. They are easy when every payment was recorded against a vendor with a W-9 on file. In Staylio, vendor bills, W-9s and certificates of insurance live in payables, and 1099s are generated from the same data, then printed and distributed, with corrections and backup withholding handled too. File them electronically through the IRS IRIS portal or your e-file provider.
Frequently asked questions
What is the 1099 threshold for 2026?
For payments made in 2026, the reporting threshold for Forms 1099-NEC and 1099-MISC is $2,000 per payee for the year, up from $600. It will be adjusted for inflation starting in 2027.
Do I need to send a 1099 to my landlord?
If you pay rent of at least the threshold to a landlord that is not a corporation, you generally report it on Form 1099-MISC. You usually do not report rent paid to a property manager or real estate agent, who reports it to the owner instead.
Do I send 1099s to vendors I pay by credit card?
Generally no. Payments by credit card or through a payment network are reported by the payment processor on Form 1099-K.