Norwood, NJ · Member since 2013 · 47 posts · 5 votes
Hey friends and colleagues,
I was told by an "experienced" lawyer, that if I really want to lease my single family house to 3 individuals (who are not related), I could sign once master lease and include all of them. Well, I am still wonder two things, first, will I be still in trouble if something go south, and authorities find out that it is a single family house not multi-family one, and you don't find 3 individual at the same time, how could I sign 3 individuals when there is actually only one tenant, anyone has experience on this topic? Thanks a bunch!
Property Manager · Livonia, MI · Member since 2011 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
12y
i wanted to start a thread on exactly this topic... my worry is keeping them happy and what if they dont like each other? Who didnt clean the dishes? Can they have their kids over? If so, would they be sleeping over? Can they have guests?
Investor · Delaware, OH · Member since 2013 · 224 posts · 64 votes
12y
Are you talking about leasing to a group of 3 roommates ("hey, let's all live together"), or 3 individuals who are each essentially renting their own room and then sharing the kitchen and don't necessarily know each other?
Is there a rule where your property is located that only related people can live together in a single house?
Norwood, NJ · Member since 2013 · 47 posts · 5 votes
12y
Thanks for asking, I stated that they are not related, and only rent a bedroom, share common areas among them. I guess each town has its own rule regarding that, but mostly won't be interested your business unless eviction and etc. happens.
Property Manager · Livonia, MI · Member since 2011 · 4k+ posts · 1k+ votes
12y
i wanted to start a thread on exactly this topic... my worry is keeping them happy and what if they dont like each other? Who didnt clean the dishes? Can they have their kids over? If so, would they be sleeping over? Can they have guests?
Investor · Narragansett, RI · Member since 2013 · 8k+ posts · 4k+ votes
12y
Can't comment on that master lease but I am not sure why you would want it. Some towns do enforce but it usually is a greater number then 3 unrelated people.
I do know someone who lived in this kind of arrangement and they used to leave stuff all over when there was a potential other tenant coming around. She was pretty successful in not getting roommates!
Investor · Woodbridge, Virginia, landlord · Member since 2010 · 98 posts · 21 votes
12y
hi jermaine here
We tried that about eight years ago but to two people that were not related, total nightmare, thay got along for about four months, then it all fell apart, one did not like the other one girlfriend the other one did not like the smell of the food the other one cooked, you get the idea,
Rental Property Investor · Oakland, CA · Member since 2011 · 3k+ posts · 2k+ votes
12y
@Daren Wang , yes, you can create a master lease where everyone is responsible for all of the rent (joint and several). This is somewhat common in San Francisco, where living with strangers from Craigslist is not very unusual. But when I see it out here in Richmond (suburb in Bay Area), they are only responsible for their portion of the rent. But listen to everyone else on here. Not everyone will get along and you might have lots of headaches, but probably higher monthly rents.
I saw a 4plex the other day with 4 x 4 bedroom, 1.5ba units. The owner had rented each bedroom separately, for a total of 16 tenants. And only 1 shower per 4 tenants per unit. None of them know each other.. 16 rent checks/cash etc to collect. 5 of them $75 late every month.. I can't even imagine the headaches/vacancies/problems etc. But the units were bringing in about 30-40% higher rents than market for a single rental unit... What are the potential headaches and turnover worth to you..?
Arlington, TX · Member since 2013 · 62 posts · 11 votes
12y
most places have rules about this, however from the rules I have see they are more geared to favor the landlord. I.e. They allow the landlord to discriminate against groups of unrelated people. Discriminate isn't always a bad word, it just allows you to further restrict your potential tenant pool if you want to. Unrelated people aren't a protected class so don't worry about getting in trouble in court for denying them.
Norwood, NJ · Member since 2013 · 47 posts · 5 votes
12y
Hi Jim, thanks for pointing out the problem that I have visioned. Well, I just hand over that headache to my property management company. Here in Metro New York kinda similar situation to Bay area, many singles, very high apartment rent, and house sharing is alternative to that. Technically, I would create a master lease agreement to protect my interest, while I will encourage my tenants to create their own agreement, regarding cleaning, noise, overnight guests, utility sharing, etc.