Adding additional tenant

[Sai Korukonda]

Hi,

Just last month I have rented out my first property to a tenant. The lease was signed by one person and he moved in alone.

Now he is requesting to allow him to have a roommate (his friend), so that they can split the rent.

I want to agree to his request, but since I am new to this, wanted to your opinion. Should i do a credit check and background check for the second person, Shall i insist on adding him to the lease, etc?

Any pointers will be of great help.

thank you all for guidance and support.

Regards,

Sai 

[Andrea Yanee]

Absolutely! Treat him the same as you did with the first tenant. Also, see about putting  him as a responsible party. In other words, both parties will be treated as equal and both will be responsible for rent and/or if they default. Plus, he needs to be over 18 or will be regarded as the full responsibility of the original party