Should I add her fiancé to the lease?

[David Djamb]

 Hello everyone, 

My tenant has been a responsible tenant for 2 years now.  She always paid her rent on time and she is a low-maintenance tenant.  She asked me to add her fiancé to the lease.

What is my best interest?  I never met the bf, not background check done on him.

Should I just keep the lease the way it is and hold her accountable for everything or should I add her bf to the lease?

thank you for your help

[Kevin Harrison]

You should screen the fiancé just as you would a new tenant, and as long as he passes then go ahead and add him to the lease. If he does not, you don't have to add him to the lease but be aware that he will most likely end up living there anyway. At least having him on the lease means you can hold him accountable.

If you decline to add him to the lease and make an issue out of him living there anyway be prepared to say goodbye to you great tenant. She is of course going to want to live with her fiancé. Your kind of between a rock and a hard place on this one, either accept the boyfriend or lose the tenant. That doesn't mean you should be afraid to say no if you find out he's a sex offender, felon, or has a history of evictions and judgments.