Do you charge more if additional person(s) move in?

Question

I would appreciate any comments or experience.  My lease states that if someone additional lives in the property for more than 48 hrs, the tenant must get written permission from the landlord.  I drive by my rentals several times a week to keep an eye on them and noticed that an additional vehicle was parked at one for over a week.  I contacted the tenant and asked if anyone else had moved in and that he needed my written permission if this was the case.  He confirmed that he had moved in a woman and her child.  I got their details and I'm okay with it because the lady has tidied the place up much nicer than the single guy was keeping it.

When I mentioned what had happened to a landlord friend of mine, she told me they have it stipulated in their lease that if an additional person moves in, there will be an additional amount of $100 per adult and $50 per child per month added to the rent.  This would certainly make tenants think twice before sneakily moving in a new girlfriend etc.

What are your thoughts?  Do any of you do this? Do you think it's a good idea, bad idea?  Would love to hear your opinions. Thanks!

Colleen F. · Answer

Market rent does dictate price and fair housing laws would come into play if you charge more for additional people.

The one caveat I have to the above is if you have utilities included you can justify charging additional based on your additional costs for more people.   Also if someone moved in check for pets moving in too.

Alison P. · Answer

Thank you all for your comments, I appreciate it.  In my situation, I do pay for the water, sewer and trash, which obviously increases as more people are using it.  I agree about charging for the unit and not the occupants, but may decide to do an amendment in my lease for the future to charge a little more for the utilities if additional people move in, as that is directly affecting my cash flow. I'm new to all of this and the learning curve is huge.  It seems like every week another situation comes up that I hadn't thought of before, but I guess that is what experience is, learning all this stuff and looking back on it in years to come. As Robert Kyosaki says "Some you win, some you learn" :-)

Henry T. · Answer

You might want to consider,  in the event that he bails and you are stucck with her. For her to be an occupant, she must pass the same criteria as he did to rent the place, or she cannot stay.  And yes, since you pay some utilities you must increase and adjust for that too.

Shon Martins · Answer

My question is I'm renting a room with it's own washroom ,and we share a kitchen, now I'm the owner of this suit, and the guy I rented to had he's girlfriend move in, now my place has it's own laundry facilities so I let them use it, what should I be charging her for monthly rent.

Katie Stewart · Answer

As the other posts said, charge for the house not the occupants since it is conventional housing. I would say that if it was student housing and you were doing individual leases, then you should charge more for an additional occupant.

Aaron Beauchamp · Answer

@Alison P. I did property Management for a few years and what I found works best is to take a $50 to $75 one time application fee from the new tenet. I never charged them recurring fees for adding a tenet.

John Underwood · Answer

@Alison P. I have something like this in my lease. It is just to scare people into letting me know and letting me check their background to avoid extra month fees.

I charge for the house not for the occupants. All my utilities are paid by the tenants or I might consider them paying a small amount extra for utilities, but no where near $150 extra per month.

Karl B. · Answer

Hello. It depends on the situation. If the guy is living in the three-bedroom house then I would be much less likely to charge more. Though I would run the woman's credit/criminal and get her signed on the lease.

However, if I was renting a 1-bedroom to someone and 2+ new people move in I would be more likely to ask for a higher rent due to added wear-and-tear and a higher water bill.

Nicole A. · Answer

Rent amount is determined by the market rent. You see similar properties and what they rent for, and that typically gives you the idea of what market rent is. Rent is not related to the number of people living in a property.

Your lease should state the difference between visitors and a new tenant. Some visitors could easily stay more than 48 hours, and would you really want to be called over a short visit? However, if they're just moving people in, now it's too late for you to do any sort of background check. I mean, you could, but if you say no they can't live there, now you get to deal with seeing if the they actually listen. Luckily it sounds so far like it's worked out for you. But you now need to add her to the lease...and if the child is 18 years or older, then they need to be added to the lease too.

But if they break up or whatever, you get to deal with this nuisance all over again because I'm sure the lady will say she's not paying rent since she moved out. Your lease should make all people responsible for rent. Who pays how much of the rent is not important to you but a personal decision between them.

Many counties/states also have a maximum number of (unrelated) people that can live together in one unit without violating safety codes.

But regarding rent, typically no, people don't get discounts for having less people and "penalties" of higher rent for more people.

Do you charge more if additional person(s) move in?

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