1 or both sign lease agreement.

[Chris Sones]

I'm currently trying to find a new tenant to rent a house. I had a call from someone that inquired the house. They said they were looking for something for 6 mo. lease or less because they are looking to buy a house. I'm new to the rentals and I usually try and do a 1yr. lease then it switches to monthly after the 1yr. I wouldn't be opposed of doing a 6mo. lease agreement.

I'm going to show the place today and after a quick interview on the phone I think this person would qualify with flying colors. One thing I'm questioning is she said it is her, her daughter and that she has a fiancé that is working miles away and I'm assuming living away from home most of the time. She mentioned that he would only be there once a week or less. It was almost like she wouldn't consider him a tenant.

My thoughts are if he is going to partially live their, even once a month, then he probably needs to be on the lease agreement and also go through a background check. Even though he isn't going to be there all the time I figure things can change and he could end up in the house full time. Also if she is on the lease I can only qualify her income and not them jointly. I'll have to explain this to her if she didn't intend on having him in the agreement.

What are your thoughts?

[Nicole A.]

I have tons of potential tenants tell me similar things about a family member who "won't be around much." But if they are 18 years or older and living there (around much or not), then they need to be an applicant and on the lease. They wouldn't have brought up the person if they weren't a serious part of their lives and planning to use the property as their home address.