Do I have to rent to roommates?

Question

I have a newly renovated 3BR in Texas. I listed the property and received an applicant from 4 25 year olds, who in aggregate meet the income requirements of the listing. This is a disaster. I had not intended to rent my new property to 4 partying twenty-something year-olds. Their application meets the criteria on income and credit. This is a former residence of mine and the neighbors will NOT be happy to have the house rented not only to a renter, but 4 renters who will come and go, and do more wear and tear on the property than a standard family.

Do I have any right to not rent to them?

If I have no right, how do I avoid this snafu in the future?

Do I have any right to not rent to them?

If I have no right, how do I avoid this snafu in the future?

Thomas S. · Answer

Clearly you are a novice, you are not facing a snafu you are screening applicants. It is your property, you rent to whom you chose not simply the first warm body through the door that qualifies.  Qualifying applicants goes way farther than simply determining who can pay.

When screening non related applicants each must meet the qualifications independently. If each one can not pay the rent on their own when the others walk then you do not have qualified applicants.

Kyle J. · Answer

All adult applicants over the age of 18 should be submitting an application and each should go through your screening process, so there definitely should be more than 1 application if you have 4 applicants.

Susan M. · Answer

Are you certain that every one of the applicants meets ALL of your rental criteria?  I assume you have more criteria than just credit and income.  It is rare for four individuals to meet all of my criteria.

If they all meet all criteria or if you don't have any written criteria, in my state I believe you still have the right to deny their application simply because they are not a good fit for your rental, as long as you are not denying based on any of the protected classes.   I believe this puts you at a lot of risk though so generally I avoid these situations by making it pretty clear that the tenant will not be happy in this property because they will NOT be able to party or make noise or do any of the things you assume they will want to do because the neighbors will complain and I will get complaints and they will be unhappy in those circumstances.  If they really want to party in your house then generally that will be enough to make them look elsewhere. If saying that doesn't concern them, then maybe they'll be good tenants and you should try renting to them.

This is also why we only do M2M rentals.  I tell them "sure, you can move in, but if the neighbors start to complain or you give me any reason, I will not renew your M2M agreement and you will have to leave".  Generally someone knowing they will be asked to move in a month or two if they're partying won't want to rent your place and go through the hassle of moving in 2 months.

Jeff B. · Answer

ALL unrelated persons must submit an application and EACH must pass tenant screening criteria as stated by @Greg S.

I have found it beneficial to print the screening criteria on the backside of the application - - tenants will then screen themselves and avoid bugging you :)

Lee L. · Answer

Perhaps you can put a minimum number of years of driving history in your rental criteria.

Thomas S. · Answer

You should include every tenant on the lease and screen individually. With only one applicant on the lease if there are any issues you can legally only go after one tenant. With all names on the lease you can go after each one individually as they will all be equally responsible for the full amount owing.

Always have every adult occupants name on a lease. If a couple apply and only want one name on the lease, usually the wife, reject their application.

Jeff Gates · Answer

Any contract with roommates can cause you significant pain, when a eviction is looming. The only safe contract is with one person, who has the right to sublease with strict guidelines.

Dawn Brenengen · Answer

@Jatin Patel As far as fair housing laws go, you can choose to not rent to roommates.  Roommates are not a protected class.

Jatin Patel · Answer

Thank you.  In this particular case there is only one application, not multiple applications.

My Property Manager claims there is no basis to say now, but I can't believe that's right, including the fact that they are splitting the rent 4 ways to make rent.  So having some basis for pushing back is helpful.

Russell Naylor · Answer

I don't have a legal answer for you, but considering it is your property... I'd think you could pick if you wanted to rent to them or not. Much like businesses have right to refuse service to anyone. Most situations, you'll have multiple people who qualify but you obviously can only pick one of them.

Do I have to rent to roommates?

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