Rent by the room lease

[Ben O'Neill]

How do I modify a residential lease to a create rent by the room leases for each occupant?

[Erik Estrada]

I am not a PM or attorney, however I have seen other owners just do individual leases for each tenant specifying the room and terms. 

[Luka Milicevic]

@Ben O'Neill 

You're in California so you probably need to get something signed and approved by congress before you can do anything, but for the rest of us in states that allow business to be conducted....

I have all tenants sign the same lease. If one can't pay rent they are all on the hook as they are all on the same lease. 

I have others who have tenants sign individual leases. It works the exact same way and it's the same exact lease with one difference - they specify that they are renting a bedroom and not the whole house. 

[Didier Bizimungu]

You have the two options @Luka Milicevic mentioned above without the interesting Calidornia joke. 

Each has its pros/cons. The first option is tough to do with renters who are unrelated and previously unknown to each other. The pro is that if you refinance, lenders mainly only recognize one lease per home. 

The individual leases give you the most flexibility; most renters will be fine with them as it makes them responsible for only their end of rent. But it will be tough to get financing with them. 

[Colleen F.]

@Ben O'Neill  The simplest thing to do is specify under address the room and use of common areas. You need to read the rest of the lease and be sure there are no contradiction though if you do it that way.