Help!!! Tenant moves adult daughter and grandson into 1 bedroom

[Elford Stephens]

Hi BP,

We are new to property management. We took the leap last February and purchased our first duplex.  There are two one bedroom apartments. The downstairs tenant is an elderly lady.  Per the previous owner, the tenant has a history of on-time rent payments and is low maintenance.  

She sent us a message that she is moving her adult daughter and grandson (age 12) into her unit, “for over a month,” until they find a place to stay.   

How would you handle this situation?

[Mike Roy]

@Elford Stephens - First step is to look at the lease for guidance, as it's pretty standard to outline how guests are handled.  If you don't have a lease, the second step is to have her sign a new lease or at least a document that outlines community standards, if you want to keep her month-to-month.  This document should include most of the language you'd find in a lease, including how you handle visiting guests.

If by "last February," you mean last month, then you can be forgiven for not having had the tenant sign this document already.  You can simply alert her that her proposed guest arrangement violates building policy and that you'll be having her sign a policy agreement shortly.  If your guest policy restricts visits to, say, 7 days, then you can tell her that a stay longer than that requires the guest add their name to the lease and will increase monthly rent by X dollars to offset the increase in utility expenses, wear and tear, etc. 

If you mean February, 2018, then you have a trickier situation on your hands, as it's been more than one year without guidance on building policies.  In this case, you're best bet might be to simply explain your concerns and negotiate a mutually agreeable solution as a one-off.  But let her know that it is your fault that she did not have her expectations set at the beginning and that  you are going to correct that from happening again by furnishing a building policy document.