Leasing a condo to multiple tenants

[Alex T.]

Hi Everyone, I wanted to know if anyone has experience renting a home or condo to multiple individuals? I am planning to rent my condo in CA to 4 individuals, the condo has 3 beds and 2 baths. I will be paying utilities. I am thinking of using the lease forms from legal zoom.com and taking a $500 deposit from each person with a M2M rent of $900. Any recommendations/ thoughts on doing this right..

[Allen Clark]

I rent to college interns that are coming into Seattle for 3-6 months. It's always a room mate situation as these are 2 and 3 bedroom places. 

I've learned:
- I rent by the month and not by the day
- All tenants are on the lease and all are on the hook for the full amount
- start and end date of lease are the same for each person on the lease. There is only one lease.
- I do allow each person to pay me individually
- Electric and gas go into their name. Water/sewer/garbage has to stay in my name so I add it to their rent when the bill comes
- Computer Science students are great. They're busy with work and generally good to deal with. Love them!