Good Tenant Wants Boyfriend to Move in But...

[Michael Fucillo]

Hello BP!

I'm new to landlording and looking for some advice.  I have a good tenant that wants her boyfriend to move in.  

The good:

His credit report shows zero missed payments

His girlfriend's father is our handyman and one of his previous landlords

He has been at his job since 2006

The bad:

He already asked to use some of the storage space to store gear for his hobbies

He just took out a loan for 105k for a boat (also 10k owed on car, makes 50k/yr)

He asked to store the boat on the property

So far I have said ok to storing the gear, but need to establish some ground rules (looking for advice here too).  Also, advised that we do not know our plans for the space and he may have to move his stuff out at some point in the future.  I told him no to the boat.

Please let me know what you would do in this situation.  Any advice is helpful (whether or not he cam move in, terms, ect).

Thank you in advance!

[Scott M.]

This is the line that concerns (and frankly confuses) me.  "His girlfriend's father is our handyman and one of his previous landlords"

When you say 'his girlfriends' I think you are referring to your current tenant.  So, your current wants to move in her boyfriend and the current tenants dad is your handyman.  

I am never a fan of renting to the family of a handyman because if something goes wrong you will lose a tenant or a handyman or in some cases both.  Also, just awkward all around.  Or if you need to evict or stop working with the handyman etc....

But if I understand it, the handyman is the dad of the girlfriend so you are already in and just moving in the boyfriend.  And the handyman is a former landlord to the boyfriend. Well, you should be able to get a solid reference that way, good or bad hopefully he lays it out for you.

Question, would you have allowed any tenant to store the boat?  Or is this because of the relationship?  

This guy is a cough away from being in financial trouble.  If the current tenant can support the place on her own and has been doing just fine then I would care less.  I would do as @Dena Puliatti suggested and handle the storage / fees for that separately.  

I see red flags but would want more info to give a yes or a no.  Proceed with caution : )