Ex-husband Paying Rent-How does this work?

Question

Hello, I am going through the process of letting an SFR. During the initial call screen, the tenant indicated their ex would be paying the rent. I've never had this situation come up before and was wondering how that works. I'm sure it's not uncommon, but I'm trying to understand who signs a lease, should I have a separate agreement for who's paying the lease, etc.? I haven't heard anything else during that call that throws red flags up, so it is something I might do. I'm just wary getting caught up in something if their relationship takes a turn for the worse.

Any information on a situation like this would be appreciated.

James Wise · Answer

Account Closed The tenant you are placing is ultimately responsible for paying you the rent. So she should definitely be on the lease. How she chooses to get you that money is on her. Whether it be from her job or her ex husband.Now onto a separate issue which is, is she really a qualified tenant? If she has no other income than the ex husbands income that leaves me to believe she is shaky. You could of course put him on the lease as well as an additional protection to you. If the money doesn't come in he doesn't loose his residence but he does have an eviction on his record which most responsible adults would like to avoid.

Christopher Phillips · Answer

Account Closedhttps://www.biggerpockets.com/forums/52/topics/250...I have a tenant now that needed a place after a divorce. She's worked out fine. Just renewed her lease recently.One option is to have the tenant pay, with the income source being work and the agreed upon divorce settlement. Ultimately, the tenant would be responsible instead of the ex-husband.If the tenant moves in and the husband pays, then you should have the application be under the husband.

Account Closed · Answer

The prospect was not someone I was comfortable with so that, along with my trepidation over credit/income led me to convince them to keep looking . I appreciate all the feedback here and it has helped me educate myself for future scenarios.

Deanna McCormick · Answer

So if the husband pays the rent.. you would have to issue him the CRP in his name only year end,, not the tenant as she never paid a dime..She would be listed as tenant. He would not be on lease period. He would submit check with notation on memo rent for month of xxx at xxx for xxx.She would need to qualify on own, for income, credit, ect.If you accept co-signer, then you'd have to accept co-signers in the future.. kind of a Fair housing thing..

Bettina F. · Answer

We rented an apartment 2.5 years ago to a woman going through a divorce. She had not been employed for the 5 years of her marriage as she had a young child. Her husband was going to co-sign for her. The woman had just gone back to work as a hairdresser, and her anticipated income was 3 X the rent. She wanted to rent our apartment for 8 months until the marital home was sold as part of the divorce, and they planned to put the home on sale the next spring. We ran credit checks on both the husband and the wife, and verified that they owned the property. Wife on the rental agreement, her husband signed a co-signer agreement for one year.2 1/2 years later, she is our best tenant. I don't know if she ever sold the house, but she is happy in our apartments, pays her rent early every month, and is a pleasure to have as a tenant!

Jim Adrian · Answer

The wife is the tenant and goes on the lease. The wife needs to show proof of income 3x the rent. This can be done by paystubs. It sounds like she is not qualified or can show proof of funds.

Christopher Phillips · Answer

@Andrew BoettcherIf I understand correctly, the husband is responsible for making the payments each month.Like I said early, the other option is to put her on the lease and the husband is just an income source.

Andrew B. · Answer

@Christopher Phillips I'm not sure I understand your reasoning behind putting husband on lease. he is not an occupant, and you cannot evict him if rent is not received. I believe that agreement is between landlord and tenant, and that is who the lease should be between. if she needs a cosignor, than that is another story. I would be interested to hear reasoning otherwise, but all of my research has lead me to believe that the proper thing to do is put only tenant on lease. it should be no concern of the landlord whose name is on the rent check, as long as he knows that the tenant is qualified to pay rent. especially if the husband and wife have a disagreement, and he decides to stop ending the check.