addtional people living in my rental property

I've 3 college students signed on a rental lease and lease specified that only people and their cars listed on the lease can resides in the property. the neighbor who is a friend of mine told me he is pretty sure their are at least 2 more people living in the house.

at this point, what can I do about it?

should I issues a warning?
collect some evidents? what can be collected and how?

any suggestion to deal with this problem is appreciated.

Thanks

Ben

William Sterling

Real Estate Broker · Monterey, CA

16 posts
50 influence

Dec 17 '11, 09:35 AM

My leases call for a 25% rent increase for the period in which additional people live on the property. Accepting the rent does not convert them to Residents under my lease. Deal with it quickly, though. I let it ride for 6 months before taking action to remove the extra people and the judge told me 6 months was too long to wait before saying they couldn't be there...

Ryan B.

Real Estate Investor · -, Illinois

269 posts
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Dec 17 '11, 12:36 PM

Getting proof that the other people actually are living there may be tough. I would maybe do a routine inspection and ask the current tenants if anyone else is living there and remind them it could be a violation of the lease.

Or if they are not tearing the place up and are good tenants you could always let it slide.

Sharad M.

Real Estate Investor · Chicago, Illinois

Donor

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Dec 17 '11, 12:43 PM

Ben,

One issue that could come up with extra people staying in the apartment is that the number of people staying may be over the limit per your local city ordinance. I don't know how strict your local city is with these limits.

Mindi B.

Real Estate Investor · Phoenix, Arizona

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Dec 17 '11, 04:36 PM

If the additional people have cars parked outside, I would take pictures on a regular basis to show proof of continuous habitation. Then I would schedule an inspection pronto and see if you can ascertain if the two people are living there. Also remind your tenants you charge $50/month per person for people living there not indicated on the lease... and it's retro-active and due immediately. If you feel the additional people are living there, tell them they need to move out or else pay the application fee so you can check their background/credit to see if they are worthy to be your tenant. If you approve, increase the rent by $100/month and allow them to stay. If not, they need to go. Then tell the original tenants they breached the lease agreement and they are being evicted.

Steve L.

SFR Investor · Rancho Cucamonga, California

890 posts
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Dec 17 '11, 04:42 PM

Meh... if they pay on-time and take care of the house I am usually pretty flexible. I however do try to stick to 2 per bedroom maximum.

Chuck H.

Real Estate Investor · Plano, Texas

14 posts
1 award
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Dec 18 '11, 07:57 AM

Ben,

At least for me this is very dependent on the current tenant. We have 3 students living in one of our properties, but they pay the rent on time and the neighbors are not complaining. I saw a keg in the garage the last time I was over there, but that is not a violation either - I can overlook quite a bit when the rent keeps coming in. They are approaching 36 months now and were late with the rent once.

The only warning I would give you is to make it clear that you want to pick up rent once for the entire amount. Not $400 from this guy on Friday, and $500 from this guy on Saturday. Make this clear up-front and stick to it.

Good Luck.