Extra people on the lease

[Gabe N.]

I just had some new tenants move in (a family of 3). When i met them in order to give them the keys I found out that the spouse was 8+ months pregnant. A few days later I found out that her mom will be staying with them for a few weeks in order to help out with the new baby. In my lease agreements it states that no one can stay longer than 1 week without landlords permission.

Even though they never asked me for permission, I honestly dont have any problems if the mother in law lives with them for a few months to help with the baby. However I am curious apart from financial responsibility is there any other reason why everyone who lives in the house needs to be on the lease?

Is it in my best interest to add the newborn to the lease as soon as possible?

What is the best way to handle this type of situation?

[Jonathan Taylor Smith]

For me, the reasons I want to know of everyone living in the home (AND have them properly reflected on the lease) is for legal, liability, insurance and compliance purposes. First, I do not want someone (an adult) to be able to claim residency rights if I do not have that person's information and have run credit, background and employment / income verification on them. Maybe they do not meet my criteria for residency, such as a recently convicted felon or smoker. I also want to make sure the property remains within zoned occupancy limits, and that 2 or 3 families are not living in a single-family home, or just too many people in general. As the number of person's living in a home will impact the wear and tear, and therefore potentially the rent that I must charge and security deposit requirement (all per federal/state housing laws of course). Also, I need to know who all is present in the home should there be a catastrophic event, like the place burns down.

I make it an automated practice to send reminders to tenants at certain points in their lease term (that require a response) to inform us of any changes to their household makeup as reflected on the lease - and that failure to do so is a lease violation that could result in lease NON-renewal or termination / eviction filing.