First, you get a rent check drawn on an account in the name of someone other than your resident. Then, you start getting repair calls or e-mails from someone other than your resident requesting service for “their home”. If your antenna are not UP after the first incident, it certainly should be after the second or third phone or e-mail contact. Your rental resident - either male or female - is in LOVE and has set up housekeep with their new Significant Other in your rental unit.
Being all for LOVE, you don’t want to encroach with your resident’s love life; however, as a property manager and agent for the property owner, you need to address some concerns fairly quickly - and with some tack.
First, ask to speak with your resident/tenant or have them contact you. You should not have any discussion with this “new person” concerning your lease agreement with your tenant. Even though your tenant has brought this person into your rented property, you still owe the tenant the confidentiality as to the terms and conditions of their occupancy.
When you are in contact with your actual tenant, ask exactly who the “strange” contact person is and remind your tenant that you need to approve any additional residents. At this point, your resident should fess up that A) he/she is Significant Other, brother/sister; cousin - whoever; or B) that he/she is fiancé and they are getting married.
In case A....you need to find out the name of the person and their anticipated length of stay. If you have a “limited length of occupancy” period in your lease such as 10 to 14 days, you should remind your resident of the provision at this point. Make a note of the day and time you had this discussion or received the e-mail.
In case B...you should determine when the “wedding” is scheduled. You can jokingly use Dr. Laura’s question...”do you have a ring and a date?”, and offer to send your resident the necessary paperwork to add the fiancé to the lease. If you charge a credit check or application processing fee, you might offer to waive it as a wedding gift.
During the next rental cycle, pay attention to who pays the rent - whose check comes in the mail or who shows up with cash. Be sure to make a note and if the check belongs to the friend, guest, or relative or if they are the one to come in with cash. If they are, then you need to contact your resident, in writing, and start documentation on an unauthorized occupant in your rental property.
Most tenants think that if they pay the rent and the utilities, they can have whoever they want in their rented home. The bigger picture for the property manager or rental owner are the questions of liability for occurrences at the property as well as knowing who is actually in residence.
You certainly don’t want your tenant to vacate the unit and leave a fiancé or relative with bad credit or no income in your owner’s rental property that you will then have to remove through the costly and lengthly eviction process.
This can and does happen where inattention to the actual occupants and their individual relationship are allowed to happen unchallenged and undocumented.
Wallace S. Gibson, CPM * GIBSON MANAGEMENT GROUP, Ltd.
Central Virginia
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Wallace: Thanks for the post. I would go a bit further and advise discussing these measures with a local attorney, depending on what state the property is in. In some states (e.g. Michigan), marriage status is a protected class for civil rights purposes, so hassling the tenant about his or her upcoming wedding could actually trigger a lawsuit. Also, again depending on the state (e.g. Ohio), family living arrangements are protected as well. If these are potential issues of concern, landlords should consult an attorney to devise a creative, "airtight" lease that will offer more protection against unwanted "guests."
David * marriage is one thing; shacking up as Dr. Laura would term it is another. Community property does not transfer to landlords as far as the responsibilities of the lease agreement.
Asking if they are married and getting verification is not discriminatory and is just good business.
Wallace, this is such a valid point. Another thing that I have heard occuring from other landlords is the boyfriend or girlfriend moves in, and then later there is a falling out, and the original tenant moves out with the boyfriend or girlfriend continuing with the monthly payments. Then it gets real tricky, when a few months later they go into default. In my State they are technically squatters on an abandoned property, and you can bypass the require eviction proceedings and have the police remove them. However, I wonder what the laws are on this in other States?
Michael * my lease requires anyone living there more than 10 days to be termed a tenant and they have to complete a rental application. I don't collect fee; however, I do keep that information on file and if they start paying the rent, THEN I put them on the lease....often GFs think this is not a good idea when it is explained