Tennant's boyfriend staying for free- what can I do?

Question

I am renting a 5 bedroom SFR in Highlands Ranch (suburb south of Denver) to 3 young ladies who just graduated from college and are all starting to work at a prestigious aerospace company in town. All three have excellent credit, etc and the company only hires the best, so I felt good about renting to them. But one of them has a boyfriend who sleeps over a lot (maybe every night- I'm not sure ) and he's not on the lease. If he is truly living there, I would be happy to put him on the lease and get some money out of him. I did ask him where he is living and he claimed he is renting a house nearby with a couple of other guys. He is here working for the same company as a summer intern so he will be out in about 2 months one way or another.

It's not a big deal, but I don't like feeling taken advantage of.

The lease is the standard Colorado lease I got here on BP as a pro member.

Thanks

It's not a big deal, but I don't like feeling taken advantage of.

The lease is the standard Colorado lease I got here on BP as a pro member.

Thanks

Nathan Gesner · Answer

It's not a big deal . . . until it is. Don't let it become a problem

Read your lease and understand it. You should know it inside/out and understand the difference between a guest and an occupant. My lease says guests can stay for eight days in a 30-day period (four weekends) which would cover a boyfriend/girlfriend staying on the weekends. If they live there longer than that, I want to know who they are.

You have two other women living in the home. You have neighbors on the block and want to maintain a good relationship/reputation. What if this young lady is dating a bad boy that likes to deal cocaine on occasion? Or he's a registered sex offender? Or a violent sex offender? if something happens and attorneys find out you knew he was living there - even temporarily - you could be held liable.

If utilities are included in the rent, you should be paid extra for the additional utility use. It wouldn't be much, but you could certainly justify bumping it another 30% or something to cover the costs.

Personally, I would read the lease and then have a discussion with the tenant. Let her know that anyone staying beyond the term allowed for guests should be fully screened and added to the lease, period. Talk about your responsibility for the safety of other tenants. You can even make your insurance the bad guy and say that you may not be covered if an unauthorized person resides in the rental. Give her the option of either registering him or spending the nights at his place.

Dylan H. · Answer

Personally, if they pay the rent on time and take care of the property I'd leave this one alone

Colleen F. · Answer

@Jim Stanley  Are you renting by the room?   How are you getting some money out of him if you are renting the house as a whole?  are utilities included?   I would just say overnight guest more then  x time period have to be on the lease, since you have 5 bedrooms and you have 3 occupants I would be clear another roommate would be an amendment to the lease.   The girls are going to have guys sleep over some, it happens.   How do you know he is sleeping over all the time, do you live next door?

I am open with my tenants about extended stay guests and usually they will tell me my son will be staying for a few weeks or my mom or BF is coming from out of town for x days. Sleepover BFs I take action if I can determine they are living there.  I got back at one BF though who they swore wasn't living there by marking his mail return to sender. Probably took him a while to get a replacement on an IRS check.

Wesley W. · Answer

See this thread from yesterday and my reply, which applies to your situation as well.

Jim Stanley · Answer

Thanks for all the replies.

A few responses:

I'm not concerned that the boyfriend is a bad person- he is a college student working for the same aerospace company, I've met him a few times, etc. And he will be going back to college soon.

Utilities are not included in the rent.

The lease says guests can stay up to 10 days and after that they become an occupant, but I can't find any cure for that in the lease.

I will have a talk with her and let he know that it is in violation of the lease and if he continues to stay, I will ask for rent money.

Wesley W. · Answer

It sounds like you need to tighten up your lease, since I'm guessing what rights an "occupant" has is not spelled out in your contract.  Also, depending how long they are actually residing in your unit, they we receive full tenants' rights, regardless of what your lease says, based on local/state statute.  You need to look this up and get ahead of this.  Like @Nathan G. said, it's not a big deal until it is.  Some of us have seen early versions of ourselves make the same mistake and gotten an education on this - with all the time and money "tuition" that comes with it.

Dwayne Poster · Answer

The other two tenants will likely give you an honest answer as to the frequency of stay of the Bf. As potential repeat clients, they should be serviced with fair treatment. I'd speak with them to see if they are satisfied with the arrangement, or if they feel they are being advantaged, which should then trigger corrective action.

Julie Hartman · Answer

@Jim Stanley It's very difficult to prove an extra person is actually living someplace day to day. We manage in HR and know the company these tenants are working for and I wouldn't be too concerned. You could send them a friendly email and let them know that if they would like him to be an authorized occupant, he can submit an abbreviated version of your application so you can run a basic background check. We do it for the simple reason that if anything happens at a property, we need to know a head count. If you don't want to do that, I would just leave them be.

Eliott Elias · Answer

If it’s writton in the lease, that’s grounds to terminate it and evict the tenants

Tennant's boyfriend staying for free- what can I do?

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