Short term rental of SFR

[Shelley Greene]

Hi all,

I'm just beginning getting into real estate investing. I own my primary residence, and I'm working towards saving up for a down payment on a duplex/triplex to rent out. What I am considering to help that go faster is renting out rooms in my primary residence (SFR).

The scenario: Everything I read on Bigger Pockets about renting says to be sure all your renters have a verifiable income of 3x the rental rate. I have recently met a few young people who are transitioning (1 army to civilian, and 2 recently separated). They are each currently unemployed, but have the cash saved up for a couple months' rent. All they want is 2-3 months of housing, because they plan on moving again when they find employment. I'm considering a rental agreement that states the move-out date in the contract (with option to extend under certain terms), and has them pay the full 2-3 months' rent up front, with a half-month security deposit also due prior to taking residence.

My questions:
Who do I ask to check that my lease is legally binding?
What happens if the tenant doesn't leave at the specified move-out date?
How often does that even happen?
Am I going way overboard - do people even usually sign rental agreements for renting out a room in their primary residence or do you just call it 'sharing living expenses'?

How much am I actually at risk for a discrimination lawsuit? I'm renting out rooms in my primary residence, I'm not advertising it anywhere (I simply met these 3 people in groups I'm part of), and I don't have any other properties. Most of what I have read about the minimum standards, aside from helping you choose tenants who have a high likelihood of treating your property well, is that having minimum standards is a way to protect yourself from lawsuit. Is it any riskier to have my minimum standard say 'must pay full contract rental amount before taking residence' rather than 'must have verifiable income of 3x rental amount'? I would still keep minimum standards of 600 credit score, no evictions, good references, and clean background check.

Any advice, tips, stories from experiences you've had are welcome!!

Shelley