How to/ To do/ when adding another person as an occupant

[Luke H.]

Hello everyone and hope all is well.  

The tenant that signed the lease has her husband and brother listed as occupants.  I did a site inspection and found another person at the house (brother's girlfriend).  I explained what is listed on the lease in terms of having guests stay and that another option would be to add her as an occupant on the lease.  What all I should do?  I was thinking of raising the rent by $100.00., but not sure what if any percentage I should raise it?

Thoughts, advice, suggestions, ideas?

Thank you team!

[Kaycee Miller]

If the lease your tenant currently signed doesn't mention an additional occupant fee, not sure you will be able to pull this off.   Also charging rent on a per-person basis, is in a gray area for potentially violating the Fair Housing Act, as it might be discriminatory towards familia status. So be EXTRA careful if you are considering this. 

You should absolutely make all occupants submit a rental application and go through your tenant screening process. What's the point of having only the lease signer provide a rental application, when it sounds like 3 other occupants will be calling this place home and should be responsible for rent, damages, and upholding lease terms.