Tenant Wants Foster Children

[Art Maydan]

Hi Everyone, 

One of my tenants in a triplex are a married couple with a baby and two dogs. The unit is a 3Bed/2Bath in Chicago. Their lease is up mid-2018. They told me they've started the process of hosting one to two foster children. So far, they've been good tenants. I have a two-part question:

1. What are the legal implications of this for me as a landlord? Do we need a lease addendum for every child they foster? Is there some sort of bedroom requirement? Am I justified in increasing the rent or charging some sort of fee?

2. Is this something you would recommend accepting (assuming I can legally say no). I'll probably lose them as tenants at the end of their lease if I don't allow it as their hearts seem to be set on it. Which is good, because far too many people foster children for the money. But on a related note, I'm not sure they know what they're getting into. My wife is a special ed teacher in a low income neighborhood and has a plethora of horror stories about the types of kids who often end up in foster care (sorry PC police).

What say you, BP? Advice much appreciated!