Greetings, I need some advice on a dilemma. My situation is that I have a 1950s 2200sf 4 bedroom house in a prime location in Charleston, SC. Nothing compares in this neighborhood of small houses and it's a great house that people love, so it's a gem. It's set up as a furnished rental. I was unbelievably lucky to get a year long corporate lease with national company. There is a potential for them to be long term tenants.
The lease was initially with two tenants. They live out of town and come work here part time during the week. I did notice that there were large social gatherings on some weekends. No big deal since the house is set up for entertaining, they have the house cleaned twice a month, and have not caused any damage. The first glitch is that I found out the person staying there the most was not on the lease. I addressed this and wrote up a lease addendum. The new person signed the addendum and was cooperative. The original two rarely respond to emails and did not follow up on signing the addendum. I'm not really sure it was required legally, but I should know.
There was some tension over utility overage charges because one of them had not read the lease. But things were back on track until I was driving by and thought I saw two huge dogs in the yard. So I drive back around and indeed there are two huge labs hanging out in the yard. Friendly lumbering fellows but not on the lease. The lease allows one poodle mix and that dog is not there very often. I know two other small dogs stay there infrequently also. I knew a fourth person was arriving, but the two labs were not disclosed.
I don't mind dogs in the rental. The furniture is nice, but was not expensive (yard sales). The wood floors have not been refinished yet. My concern is that there are pine floors upstairs. The last tenants had 30-40 pound dogs and the floors are fine. After learning more about the labs, they are older and will probably go upstairs to sleep and just lie down. They stay outside all day "except when it is cold or raining".
So the dilemma is what to do about fees. I believe it is reasonable to charge for the dogs. Should it be a fee, or pet rent, or a deposit? I want these tenants to stay as they could be there for years and what I have going is a rare and good thing. The lease is up in June but they indicated the project will be years long and there is the potential for them to stay. At the same time, there will be extra wear and tear with dogs. With four people in the house, the rent comes out to less than $30 per person per day all inclusive. Only two people will stay there most days of the week. The house is completely set up. I think their budget was tight initially and one was complaining early on but I think that may have been exaggerated.
Any suggestions about how much to charge and how to structure it without driving them away would be appreciated! Also, do all parties have to sign a lease addendum or just one person? Thanks in advance.
