Renting to Unmarried Couples

[Kaiston Terry]

I have a 3bed 2.5ba home that is for rent and had 2 sisters and their boyfriends apply to live there. The sisters had a great rental history,  credit score, etc. But neither of the boyfriends had any rental history as they were coming out of college or owned their current house and were selling it and had low credit scores. 

With this being my first rental, is this a good rental scenario or is there a way to structure a lease to hold all parties equally liable?

[Greg M.]

How about this scenario: Husband, wife, and two kids. Husband easily qualifies with income and a spotless record. Wife and two kids have no income or rental history. You'd rent to this family in a heartbeat.

Your scenario: Sisters qualify, but their boyfriends do not. You don't rent to them because things could go 'sideways'. Congratulations, you just committed Familial Status Discrimination. 

The sisters qualify. Done. Draw up the lease and put everyone on it and make the lease clear that each party is liable for 100% of the rent both individually and jointly. Also put it in there that you can return security deposit to any party and it will not be released before all four signers have vacated the unit.