Tenant got married and wants to add spouse to the lease

Marco Martinetti

Member since 2021 · 19 posts · 8 votes

@Eugene Khoruzhenko

Hey Eugene, I am not familiar with the by the room rentals. I have been in a business partnership for over 12 years though. Everyone told us not to go into business with friends. However it has been the best thing for me and very benefial. One thing we learned is make arrangements and contracts while things are good and everyone is happy. This way you will think fairly if/when a situation arises ( death, unhappiness, moving, etc). They may claim that one will cover the other or they are meant for each other and can’t live with out the other, but let’s be real about marriage and relationships in this world. They don’t always turn out the way we expect them to. If they believe in their relationship, then they should have no problem putting additional addendums to the contract that not only protect you but them as well- “just in case”.

Good luck!

Laura MarksBusiness Member

Real Estate Broker · Independence, MO · Member since 2020 · 131 posts · 111 votes

Originally posted by @Brandon Rush:

Hey Eugene,

This is an interesting situation. If the current tenant has a good track record of paying on time then this may not be a major issue. I would definitely change the lease making them both equally liable for the rent payment if you decide to move the other in. Another thing you could do to protect yourself some is request an larger security deposit. You can tell the current tenant you are at risk as you are brining in someone with no income, debt and collections. With their failed background check, you can demand a higher security deposit.

In the end, its all up to you. If you are not comfortable with the situation, you can deny the tenant's request for the additional occupant due to their poor background check. Just plan for that tenant moving out in the near future. But if you do take on the new tenant, make sure to protect yourself a bit.

I hope that helps a little and good luck on this one!

I'd make sure you can increase the deposit in your state. I know some will only let the deposit be equal to the rent. If you have a qualified tenant, you'll probably be okay. I often see couples with credit scores that are vastly different but I just need one to qualify. I maintained a .05% eviction rate for the last 5 years over 600 properties.

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Theresa HarrisPro Member

Member since 2019 · 15k+ posts · 11k+ votes

Word it in such a way that if she moves out, so does he. Add him as a permanent guest of the first tenant and state that he must follow all of the same rules. Also how do the others in the house feel about having a second persons staying in that room?

2 Reply

Andrea Glasco

Investor · Kensington, MD · Member since 2016 · 6 posts · 3 votes

Eugene, I deal with a large number of room rentals. I suggest doing a lease Amendment to add the spouse as an additional occupant for 3 months. The Amendment should include the additional security deposit amount and language requiring that the additional occupant be added to the renters insurance policy (must have updated insurance declaration before additional tenant moves in). If all goes well in the first 3 months, do a second Amendment to extend the additional occupant longer.

Nathan GesnerBusiness Member

Moderator

Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes

Originally posted by @Eugene Khoruzhenko:

I lease out individual rooms in a rental house. One tenant got married and wants to add spouse to the lease. The main tenant is okay - pays rent on time, agreed to pay extra for the other person, all looks good and the lease is for almost another year. However, screening of the spouse revealed debt, collections, no source of income, etc. - I would never accept that person alone. The main tenant now demands that we accept the spouse because they cannot live without each other, and will be totally responsible for the other person and full rent payments. On one hand, it is okay with us as long as we receive the monthly payments. On the other hand, I have a feeling that something may go wrong. Does anyone have a similar experience, what can go wrong? Normally I would add both on the lease agreement equally responsible for it, but in this case can I specify that the original tenant is the primary tenant responsible for all financial side of the agreement? What if they break-up and the primary tenant decides to leave, does it mean that the sub-tenant must vacate as well? Can the sub-tenant claim that they will stay and the primary tenant must keep paying as per the agreement? Are there any standard addendums or separate agreements that cover couples?

This is not unusual. All you need is a "joint and several liability" clause. It essentially says all individuals are 100% responsible for all terms and conditions of the lease. If only half the rent is paid, they are still 100% responsible for being late and subject to fees or eviction.

Personally, I wouldn't want a married couple renting a room because that will result in an increase of utility use, wear-and-tear, etc. I would recommend the guy break his lease and find another place to live with his spouse.

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Tim Miller

Rental Property Investor · Laurel, MD · Member since 2016 · 383 posts · 382 votes

We had a similar issue, a tenant was renting a 2 bdrm apartment and he got married. Lets just say, she wasn't of the highest caliper. Our screening process rejected her but we tried a 2 months probation with them on a new lease they signed. Short story, they are no longer our tenants. She was trouble starting week 2. I would hold to your screening standards, she doesn't qualify, she doesn't move in. Let him go and move on, it'll be less headaches.

Greg M.

Rental Property Investor · Los Angeles, CA · Member since 2017 · 2k+ posts · 5k+ votes

You didn't tell us where you are located, so no one can chime in with the local laws. Generically, you may be able to say no, you may be forced to let them move in, or you may be forced to add them to the lease. Different areas = different laws.

What do you want to happen? If you say no, the tenant is going to leave. Are you OK with this? If you add them to the lease, as mentioned, include a clause that both are 100% liable for the rent, fees, and repairs.

Joe SplitrockPro Member

Moderator

Rental Property Investor · Sioux Falls, SD · Member since 2015 · 9k+ posts · 18k+ votes

@Eugene Khoruzhenko it seems pretty unlikely they will break up before the lease ends. They literally just got married. Just write the lease such that they are both financially responsible and not separable. That way you can collect rent from either of them. If you put her as an occupant, she is not legally responsible for rent. It is better to list all occupants as financially on the hook.

Eugene Khoruzhenko

OP

Member since 2021 · 5 posts · 0 votes

Thanks to everyone for valuable advice, really appreciated! Let me add the info I missed - the property is located in WA state, and of course I would like to keep the main tenant or actually both and give them a chance for a fresh start together. Even if the law in our state allows declining a spouse with adverse action, I would not use it, in this case it seems unreasonable to ruin the opportunity for these folks, we only want to protect ourselves if the situation changes. So based on the suggestions, we would conditionally approve the second person's application with a Lease Amendment to add them as "longer-term guest", for 3 months to start with, with a clause that if the main tenant leaves, the guest must vacate immediately. Then if all goes well, we'll renew the addendum for another period. And require adding the guest to the renters insurance policy - great suggestions @Andrea Glasco!
I understand the reason behind making them both equally responsible tenants, but as is, the second person already has debt and active collections and no job, the additional financial responsibility would probably not mean much. Therefore it would make a good sense to not accept that person as "tenant" to begin with, and leave them as "guest" for the time being. I am no legal expert, but it seems to me that in case we end up in trouble directly with the second person - we never had them as "tenant" bound with the lease agreement. Not sure if such determination would have any legal standing though... Appreciate the law-savvy folks to comment.

Kar Sun

Member since 2021 · 402 posts · 277 votes

You need to ask for the official marriage documentation. If married, both are responsible since your existing tenant has been qualified already. You do not need to financially qualify individually and jointly because they are married. That is only applicable for roommates. You will need to amend the contract to add a new tenant/occupant if you want to keep them. Please remember that a new tenant/occupant always means that a contract can be re-negotiated since they were not there originally. You do have 2 options.

1. You can void your contract because it only included 1 tenant/occupant and because a new spouse would not qualify had they been applying together based on his history and your acceptance criteria. In that case you can tell your original tenant/occupant that they are responsible for a remainder of the bills since her spouse would not qualify based on his record. For this you should have basic standards of acceptability for tenants. You need to start advertising property right away and you may keep security deposit if they do not pay. My contracts does not contain early lease termination so you can choose if you want to have them responsible to the end of contract while you are looking, if you want to withhold security deposit if they do not pay while you are looking for a replacement or if you will let them out if they prepay for 2 months and leave(can be based on a state where you have this property). I specifically address this stuff in my contract.Or,

2. You can add an addendum to your contract for a new spouse. Since the original tenant has been qualified financially no need to qualify a spouse financially separately. That is only for the roommates.

Eugene Khoruzhenko

OP

Member since 2021 · 5 posts · 0 votes

@Kar Sun, I did see their marriage certificate - are you saying that we cannot call the 2-nd person "guest" in the addendum? Does marriage automatically make the 2nd person equal tenant? The 1st person barely qualified, if I run them now as couple I am pretty sure that they will drop way below the acceptance criteria. I really wouldn't like their marriage and status change to become a reason for losing a place to live, especially that now they won't qualify as couple for most other landlords, and nothing bad happened yet. We know that the 1st person is working and adding a 2nd person is not a substantial extra financial burden, so it seems it can work. What we are afraid of is that they break-up, 1st person quits, and we end up with the 2nd person as legal tenant, who we know will not pay. Are there any other dangerous turn-outs to be aware of and how to protect against?

Kar Sun

Member since 2021 · 402 posts · 277 votes

@Eugene Khoruzhenko guest is a legal term and it implies someone who stays at a property temporarily and you will need to define time length. I do not allow more than 28 continuous days a year. A paying guest is a person who stays short term (think airBnB). I expressly prohibit paying guests. Sublease is not applicable to paying guests.

Since a new person is being considered you WILL need to create an addendum or you can re write your contract. A new person is a tenant AND an occupant. Tenants pay and occupants just stay. Occupants can be small children. They cannot be tenants.

Because they are married you can verify the income only for one of them since they do not have joint tax returns. Legally both are equally responsible, unlike with the roommates and that is why you need to qualify each roommate separately.

You can re run both husband and wife financials. If you ran the one for the new spouse you can do the same for the existing party. Remember, your contract never had a new spouse, so technically you can re-write it and negotiate it. Or you can just add an addendum for the new tenant/occupant and list ALL tenants/occupants (which is husband and wife). The existing contract is not applicable to a new spouse.

If you are wary of the financials just run them again. I use avail.co for the application/background check and to manage my tenants. I also use theclosingdocs.com to verify all income and bank accounts. It is free and I really liked it because nowdays it is hard to verify anything due to privacy laws.

If they break up they still owe you the rent. It does not matter who pays in this case. Unlike with the the roommates. If your contract with the roommates does not have joint and severally responsible clause then you are truly screwed and you will have to find another roommate. So basically roommates problems will become your problems. The only caveat with the husband and wife is a divorce process. And in general if people do not have the money then they won't pay even if your contract was done right. If they just got married it is unlikely that they will divorce right away. If it is a marriage of convenience then who knows. I try to get tenants that have enough money in their accounts, have jobs and have something to lose. But there is never a 100% certainty especially nowadays. I always go with my gut feeling and tenant character is a part of my requirement to assess. If I do not see how I can work with them then they are out. There is got to be a genuine connection.

2 Reply

Eugene Khoruzhenko

OP

Member since 2021 · 5 posts · 0 votes

Looking deeper at local regulations in Seattle, I found the following:

The landlord may not require an added family member to sign as a party to the rental agreement.
The landlord must offer the same terms of tenancy to the added family member if the original tenant vacates before the end of the term – even if they do not meet screening criteria

This looks like an original tenant can bring in anyone with all kinds of screening problems, then vacate, and I end up with the other person who I would never accept otherwise... Exactly the answer I was looking for!