Long Term "Guest" of a Good Tenant - Advice?

[Andrew Webb]

Hi everyone,

I have a good tenant in a SFR (man, woman, and 2 kids). I've never had any problems from them, and they've always paid their rent in full and on time. I got a text from the tenant this morning asking if a friend of his could stay with them for the summer. The tenant is ex-military, and the friend is an army friend of his. The lease dictates that "the Tenant shall not allow any other person, other than Tenant's immediate family or transient relatives and friends who are guests of the Tenant, to use or occupy the Premises without first obtaining LL's written consent."

So, there are a couple issues, and I want to make sure I handle this in the best way possible.

1) Should I allow the friend to stay at all?

2) If I allow the friend to stay (conditional upon successful background check), could this affect the occupancy permit?

3) Should I require additional rent?

4) Are there any other legal or operational issues that I need to be thinking about before making a decision?

I'm leaning towards allowing the guest at this point because I don't want to interfere with the tenants' lives, these have been good tenants, and I'm always for helping out those who serve in the military, but I don't want to put me or my tenant in a bad situation or a situation that could spiral out of control.

Thanks in advance!

[Aaron K.]

The tenant asked you about a guest.  You should feel very lucky to have them, 90% of tenants would just move someone in and face the consequences later if they got caught.  You can put whatever limitations you want on the guest that comply with your local laws, but I wouldn't see any major issues, if the tenant thought he was a bad actor they 1. wouldn't want him in their house. and 2. wouldn't have asked you expecting that you would say no.