Fellow Triplex Tenant seems to be violating lease...

[Jon Penton]

Hey Folks! So I rent the upstairs of a two-story triplex from my brother-in-law, and I’ve been very involved with assisting him in managing properties before, though that isn’t a role I currently fill.

He just signed a lease with a new set of tenants, and as far as I can tell, it was with two ladies, only, and their two cats. His policy is for every adult who will be living in his property to submit an application - which, upon their signature and submission, authorizes him to do background checks, criminal and rental history, credit check, etc. I know every time a potential tenant asks if a fellow adult, who won’t be paying rent, but would live there, needs to submit an application, he tells them “Yes, Absolutely”.

It seems the two ladies have two adult men living there in addition to two large dogs not on the lease.

A.) I have half a mind to just keep to myself, and let things play out however they do. They seem like decent people and I don’t want to cause trouble for them.

B.) I feel obligated to inform my brother in law/landlord of my observations and leave it in his hands.

If you were the landlord in this situation, would you want to know? Or is it just annoying to get that kind of snitching (I’ll call it what most cynical minds would call it) from tenants on other tenants?

I plan to be a landlord myself, so I’m also looking to gain a bit of wisdom to carry with me into the future.

Thanks for taking the time to read this, and any input you provide - feel free to speak as plain and bluntly as you please!

[Lauren Kormylo]

Definitely tell your brother-in-law, right away.  In my state, if a guest lives in a rental for 30+ days, they have the same rights as those on the lease.  Meaning your BIL will have to file an eviction on those two guys if he wants to remove them from the house after 30 days.  If they've been there less than that, he doesn't need the court docs. 
The women may not have wanted them on the lease, because they have criminal records and couldn't get approved.  The extra dogs will cause more damage too, and should be charged for.