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Updated over 1 year ago,
I'm confusing myself regarding Lease Options. Help!
I'm reading Brandon Turner's Investing in RE with Low Money Down and I can't wrap my head around what a "Lease Option" represents.
I understand that a lessee is paying rent + an option fee to live in the house while they get their credit/finances in order to eventually purchase the house within the duration of the lease option. But things start throwing me off once we start talking about the lessee turning the house into an Airbnb, renting rooms out, etc.
Say I am leasing my house out to Bob. I've done my research and trust him to be a good lessee and not do anything crazy in the house during the time he's there. However, Bob could theoretically rent out the house to a drug lord who does all of his crack/cocaine operations out of the house. Eventually, the lease option expires and Bob decided not to go through with purchasing the house and parts ways. I then go to the property to check it out and I find tons of damage, drugs, bullet shells, cigarettes, stained carpets, weird smells, etc. I contact Bob and ask him what happened and he tells me he rented it out to some crack dealer that I had no idea about/would not have let into my house.
How does Bob have the authority as a lessee to take a lease on my house, rent it out to somebody without running it by me (especially if it's somebody I would disapprove of), and then just leave once the lease option expires? I understand that he'll most likely pay for all of the damage, but the very idea of a lessee having the authority to just rent the house to anybody without my approval seems crazy. Is there something I'm not understanding in terms of liability?