I have a two unit property, my husband and I live on one side and rent out the other. I am the sole owner, so I am the landlord and handle all of the communication with the tenant, e.g. rent payments, maintenance issues, etc. When I first screened this tenant she passed the background check - good references, made well over the 3x rent, there were some credit issues - nothing major - verified proof of income, and reasons for credit issues (she was recently divorced), so I went ahead and approved her for a m/m rental agreement.

Two months after moving in she paid the rent late. So wanting to nip it in the bud I had a conversation with her. She tells me that due to the way she is paid monthly she will never be able to pay by the 1st, she will only be able to pay by the 5th. I was a bit annoyed by this as this should have been disclosed when we had the discussion about her credit, and I feel she was being sneaky by hiding this bit of information until after moving in. My husband suggested that if she can always pay by the 5th then I should just let it go. So I did, and yes she has always paid by the 5th, even through the lockdown she has always paid...but always technically late. I am in MA so I can not charge a late fee until she is 30-days late. So I again, I let it go.

Fast forward several months she had started to see someone. He would start to come and go, staying over as couples do, not a big deal. The rental agreement reads the 'tenant is allowed overnight guests for says no longer than 7 consecutive days, and no more than 12 days total in a 30-day period without the written permission of the landlord'. Which having dated in the past I understand people wanting to stay the night with their SO. I thought this was more than generous. Up until now I thought she was a rather good tenant, besides the late rent issue. She keeps the place immaculate, and has put up with my two yappy pups, and on-going yard renovation which has taken MUCH longer than expected due to lack of materials and issues with contractor. So she has had no use of the yard, and new deck for her unit was also delayed. There is a small landing there now, but it does need to be redone.

One day when I was out working in the yard her SO pulls up, gets out and lets himself in to her unit with a key. She has several grown children that I "okayed" to have access to her unit (a key) as they would stop by to visit time to time, or check on her unit when she traveled. She asked about this prior to moving in. They are hardly ever around and have stayed over a handful of times...not an issue. However, she never asked about giving him a key...so I was a bit miffed. But I thought maybe it was a one off and let it go. I would often see him come and go and usually they were together or she would open the door...until again I was out in the yard...he pulls up...she is not home and he's walking in with a full laundry basket and lets himself in with a key. Now this is really bothering me. While I know that a few loads of laundry may seem petty, but rent includes all utilities and water. So I pay for those extra loads, and for the machines. This is when I started to pay attention to how much he was starting to stay over....and it was literally everyday. So I contacted her to discuss. She was defensive saying "I have a copy of my contract, but we can talk." So I calmed down...and then set a time to discuss. When talking I pointed out the term that covered guests and that he could not stay everyday as he is not a tenant nor an occupant. I guess in the interim she had a chance to read her contract and was in agreement and said that he was in the process of getting an apartment and just needed to stay until the end of the month...which was another couple of weeks. I agreed with the condition that they both sign an agreement attesting to the fact, and that he would vacate at the end of the month. They both signed, and he was out...one day later, but I think that was due his new landlord letting him move in on the 1st.

I would continue to see him come and go...still with a key, and sometimes with laundry, but I let it go as it wasn't every day. Fast forward a year...and all of a sudden it was almost every day, he would stay for like 3days here, 5days there, etc...and I realized his lease was up. I talked to my husband and he said I should have another discussion because it seems that she is trying to move him in. Before I could reach out she texted me that "things were going good" for them and they were considering having him move in, and asked if it were the case would I raise the rent, and what would the process be. After running the numbers I said that I would not raise the rent but he would have to go through the same application process that she did, and if it looked good they would have to sign a new agreement. I mean I didn't know this man from adam. They agreed.

So I sent her am email confirming her request to start a new agreement and application process for him, and I sent him the link to the service I use for application/background checks, and I paid the fee. He filled it out, and it came back with really bad credit, very low income, so much so that I thought it was maybe an error. I sent him a Approval with conditions, i.e. refence, income, and credit verification. To which he ignored several follow up emails from myself and the service. After waiting a week with no responses form him my last email included a denial letter rescinding the conditional approval. I mailed it to his provided address as well. Several days later I received a text from her questioning why I sent him a denial letter, as "he has his own place, and I would still pay the rent." Which made no sense on why he would want to sign an agreement with me, but still have his own place, especially when he would be responsible for rent at both places...with such a low amount of income it set off red flags. I am legally not able to share the details of why he was denied, and said she should speak with him with any questions about that. She asked if we could speak about it, I scheduled a time, and reiterated that I could not disclose any information in his report. She says she understood, but still doesn't know why he can't stay. I said that he could visit as per the terms of her current agreement, which she choose to keep active, but no longer than than the 12 days for every 30day period. I am not her overseer, he has not caused any disturbance, I just don't want him as a tenant. And now...we are less than two months from that conversation and they were fine the first month, but now are back to him overstaying the length of time. He is also giving me the cold shoulder and avoiding me, e.g. after blizzard he would not come out to help clear the snow from his own car parked in the drive way so the plow could clear the driveway. She has her own driveway. She had to clear both his and her car, move them and I could see him peeking out the window at us. I know its not his responsibility to clear snow, but its MA...we get snow...come out and clean off your car.

Long story short - she pays late, but pays, takes extremely good card of the unit (except for two damaged storm doors and a broken basement light - doors were old and going to be replaced anyway, and may have happened when they were moving stuff in/out, or not latched and the wind caught it - not sure). My question is what would you recommend? Should I just let this go? She is my first ever tenant, and I'm afraid that if bring up the overstaying it will just strain the relationship we have (business - we are not friends)...it is just the two units so we see each other often, and if she leaves or I have to ask her to go I will get someone else in that will be destructive to the unit, and or have the same problem with a SO overstaying their welcome.

My plan moving forward for any new tenants is to reduce the number of stays to no more than 7 per calendar month (highlighted), go over every term to make sure tenant is aware including terms that says keys are not to be duplicated and only one key issued per tenant listed on the agreement. Any other suggestions? And yes, after reading all of this please tell me if I am making a mountain out of a mole hill.

Providence, Rhode Island

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