Student housing lease structure advice

[AJ Pryor]

I've recently purchased a couple of 4BR SFH in a college town and am trying to decide how to structure the leases upon renewal. The current leases (which I inherited from the prior owner), are separate agreements with each tenant. Some of the tenants are students that pay rent either via student loans or their parents. I'd like some advice on whether to pursue a joint-and-several agreement going forward with a single lease/rent amount containing all tenants versus continuing to lease to individuals. Considerations I have so far are:

- Co-signers - should I check and require a parent or similar co-signer for each tenant without sufficient independent income? How would that work with a single lease, multiple co-signers? 8 parties on a lease seems like a coordination headache

- Should I consider available student loans as sufficient income for rental without a co-signer (perhaps by requiring a bank statement with >6mo of liquidity for rent)?

- Many students graduate/leave in the middle of the year (winter/summer semester). How should I handle early termination? Should I always sign an annual lease and allow for subleasing, include an early termination fee, or something else?
Individual leases would seem to help with the last point, but create a nightmare where each BR is out of sync (sounds terrible). I’ve also heard that individual leases can yield slightly higher rental rates, but obviously involve more headache. What do you all think?

Note this is specific to student housing. I understand for a more traditional rental a single lease is almost always preferable.

[Eric Bassett]

@AJ Pryor

We structure ours similar to what you inherited. They all sign individual leases but are bonded by a joint and several clause. Everyone pays separate deposits and we charge per student per semester due in full on or before the first day of class each semester. Each group is required to do 10 month leases from August to May. If someone graduates or needs to leave after fall semester make them find someone to take their place.