Legally obligated to rent to roommates?

Question

Greetings!

I'm a landlord in the State of Washington, 8 years.  Up until now I've gotten very lucky and all of my tenants have been highly qualified long term renters, married or single professional.

Here's my question.  Am I legally obligated to rent to roommates?  Can I legally state in my rental qualification letter that I will not consider a roommate situation? I am in a very high demand area and could hold out for another highly qualified married or single person without taking the risk of having roommates.

Thank you for your time!

Tim Miller · Answer

@Nina B. Roommates are just like married couples, they can be great or they can be a pain you know where.

Here's my advise from dealing with this. 1. Make sure the each roommate makes 2 or 2.5 times the rent. That way if one leaves, the other can maintain until they find a new roommate. 2. Make sure in the lease that it clearly states the each roommate is fully 100% responsible for 100% of the rent. You don't want, I paid my half. No, you make them work it out. 3. DO NOT allow each of them to make payments to you. You make them figure out who is the payer. Simply put, 1 roommate makes the monthly rental payment. They can figure out how to get each other paid.

Some people will say this is too strict but this is from hard knocks. Good Luck.

Nina B. · Answer

Hi John,

You mentioned "we have had more issues with tenants who were married and then separated than from roommates we have had."

I honestly am quite happily surprised!  Thanks much for your input and letting me know. I'm much less nervous about the prospect of roommates now.

Nina

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Doug Smith, familial status with regard to federal fair housing law only pertains to having children or being pregnant.

Doug Smith · Answer

I'm legally obligated to keep my roommate...at least that's what our marraige certificate says, but that's not your question...

I know the laws in Washington State are very different than Florida so I am sure someone in WA can better answer the question, but you'll have to watch Federal laws against discriminating against family-status, age, etc. That being said, at least in FL, you can have in the lease application that all adult occupants must be on the application. You might not be able to come right out and say "no roommates", but you have the right to approve any adult on the application. I would think that would be a way to achieve what you seek without breaking the law. I'm not an attorney nor am I an expert in WA law, so perhaps someone else on here has more to add.

Richard F. · Answer

Aloha,

So, married is fine...unmarried is not? Think about Federal Fair Housing laws. Heck, think about reality...lots of people are unmarried but living together as if for many years. You rent to People, not roommates, not children, not a particular race, religion, etc. etc. Just People. Your criteria needs to deal with verifiable facts regarding all of those people...credit, employment stability, income, public records, and other specifics that can be applied to all of those People. If, say, a five person group wants to rent from you, it could be mother, father, three kids; or mother, father, grandmother, uncle, one kid. You evaluate income for the entire group to meet your 3X or whatever criteria; you evaluate the employment stability of the primary and secondary wage earners; you evaluate the backgrounds of all and weigh the pros/cons of the entire picture. If all have Bad habits, you pass. If one or more primary wage earners also have decent credit, while others have some issues, it is pretty likely the primary will want to keep their credit intact. If they are all students, have each one provide a parent as co-signer, and perform credit and backgrounds on them as well. Be sure ALL are named on the Rental Agreement; you have a "joint and several" clause; and you use an addendum to add/remove individuals with ALL signing in agreement including you, which you only agree to if the primary is remaining or being replaced with an equally qualified primary.

Kevin Sobilo · Answer

@Nina B., I disagree with @Doug Smith and @Richard F..

Roommates are not a federally protected class of people with regard to real estate. Some people think it falls under "Familial Status" but that only pertains to people with children and also pregnant women.

So, unless your state has additional protections specific to this you should have no issue denying roommates. I personally don't concern myself with restricting roommates because married couples break up almost as often as any other type of cohabitation situation.

One thing to consider is that municipalities often regulate the number of unrelated people who can reside in one unit. So, be aware of any such local ordinance.

John Barrett · Answer

@Nina B. I wouldn't be concerned with the fact that you are getting interest from roommates.  As others have suggested, just screen them both per your normal rental criteria and have them on the lease.  We also have in the lease that any new roommates or swapping of roommates requires them to pass our screening.

We have had more issues with tenants who were married and then separated than from the roommates we have had.

RHAWA & WLA are both good organizations which have information that can help you if you need support with your lease agreement.

John

Melanie Thomas · Answer

I am always happy to share my screening criteria if interested. Avoid any potential Fair Housing issues and screen each tenant the exact same way. Good luck & happy investing!

Legally obligated to rent to roommates?

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