Renting to a military family

[Somdeb Majumdar]

An applicant for my condo will have his son stay with him for a couple of months. His son is with the military and is expecting to be sent abroad then. Normally I have all adult occupants be on the lease. But with military deployments, I know that the lease duration can't be enforced.

So, in this case, would having the son added on the lease give the dad the same flexibility to break the lease when the deployment happens because the lease is jointly in their names? The dad can qualify on his own income so I am thinking of doing the background check for both but having only the dad on the lease.

What would you do? This is in CA.

[Patricia Steiner]

Skip the son...you've already been put on notice that he's being deployed.  The military clause covers the service member and his/her family; a spouse is covered but a friend or fiancé is not. Since the father can qualify on his own income, I would thank the son for his service and move on.