Lease Rules: Can I do this?
I'm about to be looking for a new tenant to fill 1 bedroom in my home. It is shared living: tenant bedrooms have access to shared kitchen, laundry, living, etc. You may remember that I've had issues with a tenant using profanity, having over a month of overnight guests (not concurrently), damage, not cleaning up after self, not paying on due date, etc. I want to nip it in the butt for the next tenant and be clear about my expectations and follow my lease to the letter.
Type of dwelling:
House. I live here, as do tenants. Each has own bedroom, some shared baths. We share common areas, including entry door.
Lease rules... can I (and should I) do the following? Should I not include any of these? Is there anything else I should include?
- Trash should not accumulate in common areas; tenant will be charged for cleanup without notice if trash accumulates. Dishes should not accumulate in sink.
- Repair requests should be made in writing.
- No more than 2 overnight guests of the same gender per month. Nights do not accumulate and are not transferable among tenants.
- No overnight guests of the opposite gender (house is all same-sexed at this time)
- No overnight guests under the age of 18, as this is shared adult living
- No smoking on property
- Rent is due the 1st of the month. After 5 p.m. on the 5th of every month, a $50 late fee will be assessed. (Can I make the late fee the 2nd of the month?)
- All damages caused by tenant or tenant's guests will be collected prior to the following month's rent. All rent monies for the following month will be applied first to tenant damage's, then to rent.
- Lease is month-to-month with 30 day notice on either side to vacate.
- Illegal, loud, harassing, abusive profane or otherwise disturbing conduct by the Tenant or guests of the Tenant shall be attributable to the Tenant and shall constitute a violation of the terms of this Lease.
- Pest control is not provided by landlord.
- Common areas should be quiet after 10 p.m. to not disturb the piece and quiet of other residents.
Is there anything else I should include in a shared tenant/landlord dwelling like this (aside from the standard lease terms, such as damage and indemnity and so on)?
I want to follow fair housing, and make this a happy, clean home where everyone is comfortable and my property is well-kept. Since I also live here, it is my understanding that I can select a same-sexed tenant as well as not have kids/other sexed overnight guests. I don't feel that shared housing is the place for minors under 18 (I'm not comfortable staying in a house with strange kids), nor for other-sexed guests (liability, making tenants and me uncomfortable, etc.).
Also, I include utilities, since we all live here and I don't see a way to divide them. Can I make a clause saying that "reasonable utilities" are included.? My utilities average $500 month or so. Should I include "2 laundry loads per week included" or is that pointless? I don't want to get screwed by utilities, but don't want to be needlessly nit-picky.
Should I require splitting the cost of a maid for common areas, or just make everyone take turns cleaning? History tells me that taking turns might not work.
Thanks for any insight. I'm hoping to make my lease more applicable to shared tenant/landlord living, and give myself a way to enforce the above, particularly about late night noise and guests. I'm mostly concerned about the 2 overnight guests a month rule and if I can disallow other-sex or kids staying here. And, if I can apply rent money first to damages then to rent.