All Forum Posts by: Elford Stephens

I would say no and issue a cure or quit. No good deed ever goes unpunished.

Come back in a month and let us know how it worked out.

I would say... only one month, water over average will be billed to you.

I would not allow it because that's too many occupants to share one bedroom unless the house is spacious and has extra room for them. I'm guessing this is a small unit already.

Second, this is the sign of trouble. When an elderly woman has to move in her adult daughter and child, that is a strong indication that the adult daughter struggles with adulting and handling her responsibilities. This makes her a high-risk tenant.

My policy says no guests may stay longer than 15 days in any 6-month period. I recommend you look at instituting a policy for visitors and occupancy limits.

In California 3 people to a 1 BR is considered reasonable and is protected (2 people per BR + 1).  What is less clear is if a single tenant adds 2 unrelated people to a 1 BR unit is that protected?  I suspect it is.

In tenant friendly California, I would likely be restricted to adding the two new tenants to the lease as tenants.  For our lease it means each tenant is fully financially responsible.

I suspect Virginia is not as tenant friendly as California.

Good luck

A few years ago I added an additional person clause and penalty/additional rent to my lease.  Each additonal person is $100 per month and must be approved. They initial specifically at move-in.

Obviously 2 additional people in a 1 bed wouldn't be approved, but they would at least be subject to additional costs and not be able to say they didn't know the rules.

I’d give her 1 month quit notice to move out the two for lease/housing law Violation. Then I’d wait out the month and if they are still there move to evict. Everybody wins. Plus the grandma can show them she’s being evicted to motivate them out on time. 

What does the lease say? M2M or annual lease? What utilities do you pay? I would try to find out how likely this is really going to be temporary, specifically  for how long,  and if the daughter would be more then a guest run a background check to see if she meets your screening.  You can expect, for example, if the daughter is not employed it is not going to be very temporary.   If you add her to the lease, I would do so as an occupant. 

You could also try to take the ' no' position or offer if you want to find a place with your daughter I can let you out of the lease. ( i would not want 3 in a one bedroom). In any case for me it would depend on what she comes back saying whereas. Others may take a more hard line. 

I doubt your area has occupancy limits but many areas it is two per bedroom plus one so they would be below that. You can set a reasonable occupancy limit consistent across units. That may not be something you want to do at this point. For charges you can charge more for an increase utility cost to you but not just because there is more occupancy. Hope that helps.

@Mike Roy is right in having you get your policies in place asap.  

NOTE: It's the rare jurisdiction that will permit 3 people to occupy a 1-bedroom unit--it's an occupancy/health/safety issue, so check with your local zoning or housing department. 

If you let the 'relatives' in, they should pay some rent, and let them know the definite time limit of their stay.

@Elford Stephens - First step is to look at the lease for guidance, as it's pretty standard to outline how guests are handled.  If you don't have a lease, the second step is to have her sign a new lease or at least a document that outlines community standards, if you want to keep her month-to-month.  This document should include most of the language you'd find in a lease, including how you handle visiting guests.

If by "last February," you mean last month, then you can be forgiven for not having had the tenant sign this document already.  You can simply alert her that her proposed guest arrangement violates building policy and that you'll be having her sign a policy agreement shortly.  If your guest policy restricts visits to, say, 7 days, then you can tell her that a stay longer than that requires the guest add their name to the lease and will increase monthly rent by X dollars to offset the increase in utility expenses, wear and tear, etc. 

If you mean February, 2018, then you have a trickier situation on your hands, as it's been more than one year without guidance on building policies.  In this case, you're best bet might be to simply explain your concerns and negotiate a mutually agreeable solution as a one-off.  But let her know that it is your fault that she did not have her expectations set at the beginning and that  you are going to correct that from happening again by furnishing a building policy document.