Tenant brought a friend while touring the unit

[Anthony Salazar]

I am in the process of renting a studio unit on furnished finder. I'm in Southern California (Orange County) and I just showed the unit to a prospective tenant. He  (the prospective tenant) said he would be living alone but he also brought a coworker to look at the unit with him. I'm skeptical that the coworker might be more than just a coworker and that she may be looking to move in as well. She mentioned she lived near by and would stop by occasionally to hang out, but wouldn't be moving in.

I'm going to send him (the guy wanting to rent the unit) my application and I'm wondering how you would go about the coworker situation? The unit can allow for two people but I obviously want to make sure I have her fill out the application and do my due-diligence if she's planning on moving in.

[Brandon Rush]

Hey Anthony,

I would call them and ask them directly, do they have any intention of their co-worker moving or if it is possible this is something they would request in the future. Unfortunately there is no real way of telling if they will be truthful or not. Hopefully you can feel them out after they answer those questions and make a decision. If the tenant is qualified for the apartment, in the end all you can do is lease it out to them and be very specific in your lease about visitation and other occupants. Also, this is no different than someone who came by themselves with the intention of moving someone else in. It's only on your mind because you saw that other individual. 

Good luck!

[Anthony Salazar]

True, thank you! @Brandon Rush

[Theresa Harris]

Just ask them.  Some people like having a second person come along to look at rentals as the friend may see things that the potential renter doesn't.

[Eliott Elias]

You have no solid evidence the co worker will live there. All you can do is reiterate that everyone over 18 needs to be on the lease and the consequences if he breaches 

[Nicholas Coulter]

@Anthony Salazar I would call and ask. You can also have verbiage in the lease to say they are allowed a certain amount of overnight guests per month. Thats what I did in my Room rental house hack.

[Kenneth Burdick]

Just out of curiosity...what is the risk you are guarding against in the event that he's lying to you and the coworker does move in? Not being facetious, just trying to understand the thought process better.

[David Friedman]

You may want to include in your lease an additional fee if another person moves in. $100 to $150 per month additional or whatever amount you think your market will support. At least then it is clear upfront that the current tenant has some costs involved and there is no free lunch.

On an unrelated note, I do think schools should give free lunch and breakfast to all students.

[Johnny Bravo]

Unfortunately there's no real way to know if they will be moving in or not unless you directly ask them and they are honest if that is the case. And like a few folks have mentioned, perhaps have some language included in the agreement that will protect against or mitigate whatever risk you're worried about. 

Be clear, in writing, what happens if they are found to have "moved in" and what that means. Whether that's how often they visit, number of keys allowed to the main tenant, parking, etc. 

Looking at this another way, what if they are a significant other vs coworker (or both). Before my wife and I married, I was over her place almost every day because I worked close by. I wasn't "living" there by some standards and by others I was. And I have done apartment tours with friends (male and female) because they wanted a second opinion, didn't want to do the walk alone, etc. Trust your gut, but from your recap I don't think anything nefarious is going on.

Up to you to be clear on what is allowed/expected and what is not. 

And make sure to do a solid background check on the main applicant and both if they come forward with being a tenant too.