Lease Rules: Can I do this?

Question

I'm about to be looking for a new tenant to fill 1 bedroom in my home. It is shared living: tenant bedrooms have access to shared kitchen, laundry, living, etc. You may remember that I've had issues with a tenant using profanity, having over a month of overnight guests (not concurrently), damage,  not cleaning up after self, not paying on due date, etc. I want to nip it in the butt for the next tenant and be clear about my expectations and follow my lease to the letter.

Type of dwelling:
House. I live here, as do tenants. Each has own bedroom, some shared baths. We share common areas, including entry door.

Lease rules... can I (and should I) do the following? Should I not include any of these? Is there anything else I should include?

- Trash should not accumulate in common areas; tenant will be charged for cleanup without notice if trash accumulates. Dishes should not accumulate in sink.
- Repair requests should be made in writing.
- No more than 2 overnight guests of the same gender per month. Nights do not accumulate and are not transferable among tenants.
- No overnight guests of the opposite gender (house is all same-sexed at this time)
- No overnight guests under the age of 18, as this is shared adult living
- No smoking on property
- Rent is due the 1st of the month. After 5 p.m. on the 5th of every month, a $50 late fee will be assessed. (Can I make the late fee the 2nd of the month?)
- All damages caused by tenant or tenant's guests will be collected prior to the following month's rent. All rent monies for the following month will be applied first to tenant damage's, then to rent.
- Lease is month-to-month with 30 day notice on either side to vacate.
- Illegal, loud, harassing, abusive profane or otherwise disturbing conduct by the Tenant or guests of the Tenant shall be attributable to the Tenant and shall constitute a violation of the terms of this Lease. 
- Pest control is not provided by landlord.
- Common areas should be quiet after 10 p.m. to not disturb the piece and quiet of other residents.

Is there anything else I should include in a shared tenant/landlord dwelling like this (aside from the standard lease terms, such as damage and indemnity and so on)?

I want to follow fair housing, and make this a happy, clean home where everyone is comfortable and my property is well-kept. Since I also live here, it is my understanding that I can select a same-sexed tenant as well as not have kids/other sexed overnight guests. I don't feel that shared housing is the place for minors under 18 (I'm not comfortable staying in a house with strange kids), nor for other-sexed guests (liability, making tenants and me uncomfortable, etc.).

Also, I include utilities, since we all live here and I don't see a way to divide them. Can I make a clause saying that "reasonable utilities" are included.? My utilities average $500 month or so. Should I include "2 laundry loads per week included" or is that pointless? I don't want to get screwed by utilities, but don't want to be needlessly nit-picky.

Should I require splitting the cost of a maid for common areas, or just make everyone take turns cleaning? History tells me that taking turns might not work.

Thanks for any insight. I'm hoping to make my lease more applicable to shared tenant/landlord living, and give myself a way to enforce the above, particularly about late night noise and guests. I'm mostly concerned about the 2 overnight guests a month rule and if I can disallow other-sex or kids staying here. And, if I can apply rent money first to damages then to rent.

Rusty Thompson · Answer

I looked over the list one more time. One rule that really stood out to me is

No overnight guests of the opposite gender (house is all same-sexed at this time)

I don't know what market you are attempting to target... I.E. Seminary students. But you have to be careful to avoid making your rules so strict that no one wants to live with you. I know that I would never sign a lease that would not allow me to have a person of the opposite sex stay the night. You might also be running into discrimination against heterosexuals. 
If you are going to make such a rule a blanket no over night guests at all would be better. That would cover three of your rules in one, and you would make sure that it is fair to everyone.
Just my two cents.

Kyle Meyers · Answer

Check with a local lawyer about the rules you have. It is difficult for anyone else on here to know the laws in your location. I think you are clear of fair housing violations, however you cannot advertise the rules you listed about age and gender (based on my understanding of the law) when you are looking for a tenant.

The cleaning and damages rules may be difficult to enforce unless you have security cameras in the common areas, and if you do I would get the legality of that checked with a lawyer as well and disclose it in writing to all tenants.

The rent grace period is also influenced by local law. There are several states that require a period of time after the due date where the tenant can pay without a late fee, but many places do not require this.

Rusty Thompson · Answer

The provided background clears things up a bit. 
I would talk with the curent residents and come up with something they agree with. That does not discriminate. The "no dates" clause would be hard to enforce. Howdo u define dare or friend.I completely agree with the no one under 18.

Jon K. · Answer

Seminary students... ha, ha.

One of my current tenants does not feel comfortable with the opposite gender staying over, and I want to appease this ideal tenant. A second tenant prefers none. And, no dates staying over tends to mean less drama or..er.. noise of a certain kind... but I suppose the rule should be "no dates staying over."

I didn't want to be so strict that it's zero overnight guests, since most people like their friends staying over.  As for children, I'm very uncomfortable around kids (I dislike kids) and see liability in allowing minors to stay in a group living situation.

Kyle Meyers · Answer

My understanding of fair housing law is that you are allowed to limit many more things since you are the roommate and not just a landlord, but you cannot advertise it. I think you would be ok to tell people on the phone before setting up a meeting, but I don't think you can put an ad up that says "No Children". Again, I am not a lawyer, so you should not take this as legal advice.

Jon K. · Answer

Thanks for all the info.

I'll nix the cleaning part. If it gets too gross, I'll talk to them and/or clean it and/or hire a maid.

Since I'm also the roommate, I can't advertise age or gender? I thought I could, as the roommate, specify the gender I want in a roommate? I've seen it done often, but keep reading/hearing not to specify age/gender/income source/etc., even in roommate ads.

I've adding rules about no water beds, swimming pools, bbq pits, and similar. Maybe I'm getting too specific, but the past few leases I've signed have had clauses about waterbeds.

I looked at my previous leases that I've signed for places I've lived, and they all had a late fee after day 5. I won't try to go with day 2.

Rusty Thompson · Answer

I agree about the cleaning... get a maid for common areas and roll it into the rent.

Marc Freislinger · Answer

As far as I am aware, if you live in the property, you do not have to follow fair housing. You may also determine who is allowed on the property. Rent can be applied to damages first, but the damages must be provable. In my experience, you cannot fix something yourself and charge a tenant for it.

You will need to check with an attorney in your state to see if any of the items of your lease are illegal, but I did not see anything that jumped out at me as being unenforceable, except maybe the cleaning. (Who gets the money for cleaning, how unclean does it have to be to get charged, etc) Too many variables for me.

Lease Rules: Can I do this?

Most Popular Reply