the biggest issues are that the available tenant base drops dramatically around October and doesn't pick up again till the end of the school year.People are no different than animals in that regard.They want to be settled and hunkered down in a property before the school year and/or bad weather starts.Quality tenants with good financial backgrounds don't want to move their families in the middle of an icy,snowy winter for obvious reasons,and good college students have already started school in August.Many of the few available tenants will have questionable backgrounds like recent job loss,previous eviction,bad credit,difficult income verification and don't make 3 times the rent,criminal records,etc.   

They do national eviction searches as part of their rental background check, and they do a criminal and credit check, too.

You are still allowed to reject that unauthorized roommate if you find criminal or other negative findings from the screening.If you decide to approve the new tenant, just draw up a new lease for a 1 year term (or your choice) with the new rent and make sure all roommates are included on the lease. easier that doing addendums for rent and roommates etc. and you get them to commit to a new 12 month lease so you dont risk move-outs in the middle of winter.

For myself I believe that it is criminal for a tenant to not pay rent owed.

However, it’s also a field full of potential landmine issues with fair housing.There are important things to remember when using social media to screen tenants.Start with a solid application processIf you’re not starting with a thorough rental application, a credit check, and a criminal background check, go no further.Beyond that, have a checklist of uniform criteria and standards you need each tenant to meet.

However, this is a situation when they deny that their partner has moved in but it appears like they live in the apartment building.This may happen because of bad credit or because of criminal convictions that they do not want to disclose.

What if they have terrible landlord references or a criminal background that includes legally deniable crimes?

It is a criminal offense to trespass on this property"So is this a sight unseen auction?

Consequently, criminal records-based barriers to housing are likely to have a disproportionate impact on minority home seekers.  

w@Kevin Siedlecki very correctly pointed out that you moving into a backyard shed would be a likely zoning violation (which is not criminal -but could lead to a fine if found out, then warned and warnings are ignored), but that would not dissuade me if shed living equaled saving money.