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Updated about 5 years ago,
Number of Occupants/Guests
Does anyone have any language they use in their lease to limit the number of "guests"? I can't imagine that I'm the only person that's ever come up against this situation, but I've looked fairly extensively and I've seen a lot of information regarding occupants, but not guests. In a nutshell, I've got like 6 people "living" in a 2 bd unit... one person only on the lease. (inherited lease/tenants from when we recently purchased the property) There's only one or 2 people actually spending the night and therefore "occupants" but all day, every day (or the majority of days) there's closer to 6-10 people that are occupying the unit.
Probably a sticky situation legally where a landlord CAN limit occupancy but since they aren't spending the night... are they technically classified as "occupants"? In my opinion, it's overbearing, as a landlord, to say "you can't have any guests" or limit the number to a restrictive number like only one or two... I mean c'mon, how many of us have a few friends over for dinner or to watch a football game etc.? I would think you'd run into major legal issues if you even tried to enforce a lease clause or an eviction for too many guests. But every day (or close to everyday) is excessive.
Plumbing, appliances, water heater, doors/hinges, flooring... all these things (and more) suffer decreased lifespan when there are 6-10 people in a unit designed for a maximum of 4 (2bd/1ba) This is not even taking into account that the extra people in the unit are "harder" on the property than the tenant. This unit is in the mid-west... security deposit (being equal to one-month's rent) is woefully inadequate to cover pretty much any damages that occur.
Thanks for your input/thoughts.