Tenants breakup and want to add new person to lease

[Taylor Cameron]

Hello everyone -

Any help with this situation would be appreciated!

I have two tenants (person A and person B) who both just signed a new year lease in November. They have decided to separate. Person A wants to move out and have their name removed from the lease. Person B has a family and wants to stay AND add person C to the lease to help with rent so the family has some stability and doesn't need to move. Person B does have a history with Person C. It does not appear at this point person C will be moving in. However, I have asked multiple times to both of them and yes, they would like person C added to the lease. 

I am working through this and will qualify person C as I would any person. If they qualify, I will add them to the lease and we will move forward. 

If they do qualify...

What paperwork do I need to a) remove a person from the lease and b) add a new person to the lease?

If they don't qualify...

what are my options? Hope person B can continue paying rent? Switch to a month to month lease? 

Any advice or suggestions are appreciated. Thanks! 

[Account Closed]

I've had this sort of thing happen lots of times. Here's what I do:

Everyone remains on the lease they signed. Doesn't matter if they moved out or not.

Do your background checks on Person C. If they qualify, add them to the lease.

If person C does not qualify, then you still have a signed lease from A & B. They are both still responsible for the rent until the lease is up. And make sure A & B know that C cannot move in if they don't qualify.