Lease to a nonprofit

[Kathy Brasby]

A non-profit in our town has Vistas (like interns) who are sharing a two-bedroom house we manage. We know the director of the non-profit well. She has paid the damage deposit on the house and the Vistas pay the rent. This summer, she has short-term Vistas coming to work with her program so we are signing short leases (like 10 weeks) with one, knowing that another is following this one. We shouldn't lose any rent on the deal but the short-term leases are a bit of a nuisance.

Is there a way to sign a lease with the non-profit giving them authority to sublet? Or does that open a can of worms we don't want to open? How would you structure the lease with the non-profit? Or would you suggest continuing with these short leases? Thanks for any ideas!

[Dick Rosen]

I would get the Non-Profit to commit to a 12 month or more lease and you just add a phrase in the lease that allows them to sub-let. But I would stipulate that you receive contact info for all new tenants for emergency purposes. The downside may be that you aren't screening the tenants so you may want to have a conversation with the Non-Profit regarding how they are qualifying these tenants.