Sneaking in new roommates before the lease starts

[Amanda Thompson]

Hi all! I have a bit of a situation, which I will try to keep concise.

- 4 roommates on lease until Aug.29

- 2 of them have already moved out

- 2 NEW roommates signed a NEW lease with the remaining 2 from the original lease.

- NEW lease begins Aug. 30

The 2 roommates leaving have told me that the 2 remaining roommates plan to sneak in the 2 NEW roommates at the end of July. They are using the clause in the lease that says a guest can not stay more than 14 consecutive days. So technically they can stay 14 days, leave one night, and come back for 14 days? I do not like this clause and will be removing it from future leases, but it came standard in the sample Rules & Regulations.

How do I prove that new roommates moved in early?? Can they get away with the 14-day rule? Do I need to call a lawyer? Also, if I do prove it and evict them, then what happens to the new signed lease beginning Aug.30th?? Do I just let it go? They've always paid on time and I've really never had issues.

[Tim Herman]

@Amanda Thompson are the current tenants paying the rent to lease end or are you renting by the room? If they are jointly and severally liable then I don't see the problem with the tenants in the new lease moving in early. The rents will be paid until the new lease starts. You must have vetted them and deemed them rent worthy. Are you going to go over every day and check to see if they stay overnight for the 14 consecutive days. On the 15th day you would have to do a notice to cure before the start of eviction. You will have to evict everyone for lease violations. I don't know how long an eviction takes in ID. Weigh the costs of evictions vs paying tenants that don't cause problems.