How many unrelated people can live in property?

Question

Hi BP,

I am in South Carolina, rock hill area. I have a question about how many people can be in a house that are unrelated. Are there any SC laws or county/city laws about only so many unrelated people can be in the same house? I have checked online and it has been tough to get a straight answer.

Thank you in advance!

Alex Franks · Answer

Michael

How are you? I have quiet a few rentals in and around Charlotte and Rock Hill. This is some thing that has never come up. Now my wife is Catawba Indian we live on the reservation. The tribes rental houses had in their lease. Any one not on the lease, they needed to notify Iswa ( tribes houses unit) So many days they could stay. I also think this had to do with the homes being Hud. The homes were built under a  housing grant.

Other wise pretty good question...

Now for the funny story I owned a house on Oconee ave. If any one knows Rock hill it is a rougher area. Well back in the day my wife used to handle property management. This was one of our first rental homes. Anything that could go wrong went wrong.

So she was just getting it rented. We had back financing on it. So we needed that rental payment ( that's another story ) Well she rented two a very nice older couple. Cash  650 month. They paid deposit and first  3 months up front. man this real estate stuff is getting better and better. I'm pretty active in this area so I make weekly trips by the house. Working on a few other deals in same area.  I never saw a person at the house during the day. Did not think any thing of it. So one night get a call another house another headache. I go to fix the problem I see 5 cars at the house. Must be a good Party going on. Again no big deal they paid cash up front.

So I get a call from neighbor who says man you got like 20 people living in your house. No that's not my  house. Just little old couple living there. So I decide to stop by the next evening at 730pm Summer so still light out. I pull up meet my tenants out side. They met me at the end of the drive way( that was nice of them )  Out the corner of my eye I could see heads popping up looking out window. A lot of heads popping up. Long story short I ask what is going on. I ask to get inside the home. I counted 23 mattresses. My nice little couple were renting space out to Labor workers from the area. Charging 75 a week, it was like a mini hotel slash restaurant. Lesson learned but one of the many war stories I have accumulated over the years.

So I guess this would be one time . That we  have to  many people in a house.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

I've never heard of a law limiting the number of unrelated people but I know there are rental policies that address it. I do not allow more than two unrelated people. Two friends or a boyfriend/girlfriend is OK allowed. I will not allow three friends to rent together or a boyfriend/girlfriend with a third friend. I will allow a husband/wife and then a friend. Or even two siblings and a friend or a parent/adult child and a friend.

Unrelated people have no bond to tie them, making the relationship easy to dissolve. People bonded by blood or marriage tend to be committed. I've seen friends of 10+ years rent together and six months later they aren't talking!

When friends rent together, particularly three or more, something almost always happens to ruin it. There may be a personal conflict over cleanliness or one Tenant steals food from the others. Maybe someone is always late paying their share of the utilities. Or maybe tenant A catches Tenant B using his toothbrush. Then there is the risk of one tenant losing their job or being transferred. The remaining Tenants can't afford the rent so they either break the lease or rush to find a replacement and things go from bad to worse.

In my experience, multiple friends do not work out. You have no legal requirement to rent to a group of friends. Set a written policy and stick to it. You will be better off!

Katie Squirewell · Answer

Hi Michael,

http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article13923278...

Here is an article from the state newspaper.  In Columbia, it appears occupancy is based upon city residential zoning laws not sure about Rock Hill however I would think they to have similar residential zoning laws.  Hopefully this will help you.

Michael H. · Answer

Thanks Nathan! You make some great points. I was thinking about renting rooms out to college students. My hope is they wouldn't know each other before as that could create problems like you mentioned.

Chris DeTreville · Answer

We are the capital city but also very much a college town..that ordinance is in place to control party houses with college students.

Brock Adams · Answer

@Alex Franks  Very funny war story.  Your neighbors can be your best friend or worst enemy.

Franklin Romine · Answer

I haven't had luck with any number of tenants under one roof that are unrelated.

Franklin

Chris DeTreville · Answer

In Columbia there is a city ordinance that states no more than 3 unrelated people can live in a single dwelling.  Management companies usually stick to that ordinance, but from what I can tell most owner/landlords do not care and there is really no way for the city to know.  However, they are proposing major changes in Columbia regarding rentals.  http://www.thestate.com/news/local/article36699174.html

That being said, there are variances for student housing where that ordinance does not apply.   I am unsure however how this variance is determined.

Jim Adrian · Answer

I have heard of 3 unrelated people in one residence.  I want to say there is a Fair Housing statue that covers this but I don't the specific reference number/chapter.  Local zoning will/can play a roll on this as well.  I would call the city building dept or the mayor hotline for your area.  Other places to call would be HUD but not sure if you are opening up a can of worms when you call.   The big give away to the neighbors will be all the cars in the street.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

There are managers who rent exclusively to college students, most of whom have no credit, no Landlord references, and little income. These managers are successful because they have specific policies and procedures in place to handle the inevitable problems. Try linking up with some to get ideas on how they do it.

How many unrelated people can live in property?

Most Popular Reply