Should I rent my rental unit to two couples?

Question

James Orr · Answer

@Katie Stewart... yes, the U + 2 law in Fort Collins is actively enforced and has some teeth to it:

https://www.fcgov.com/neighborhoodservices/occupan...

Dick Stevens · Answer

Make sure lease is joint and several.

Dennis M. · Answer

As long as they pass the screening and sign lease I’d say it’s even an advantage and not a liability . That’s several qualified adults earning income able to pay that rent if one leaves loses a job or is injured !

Craig Curelop · Answer

@Ben Cochran - Are these married couples? If not, I would make sure that they each individually qualify as well. What happens if they break up?

Also, have something in your lease about "quiet hours." No one wants to hear screaming at 2am whether it's a pleasurable scream or if they come home and have a drunk fight.

I would definitely call prior landlords and maybe even their prior roommates to see if any of these problems occurred in the past.

Mike S. · Answer

Everybody qualifies or nobody qualifies.  Usually I get these when someone's trying to do a favor for a friend who can't afford the rent.  The hazard here is everyone but the loser bails and you're stuck evicting the loser and you have to chase down the other tenants(who didn't tell you when they moved out months ago).

Steve Shafer · Answer

@Ben Cochran I agree with Katie that this is a good situation for you in terms of likelihood that you'll get full rent each month on time. But, as she mentioned the U+2 laws are for real here in fort Collins. If you Google "Fort Collins Occupancy Limits Disclosure" you'll see a form that technically Landlords need to have their tenants sign. If you, as the Landlord, sign a lease with all of these parties you've mentioned, you're already in violation. Obviously there are ways that Landlords get around holding this liability.

Katie Stewart · Answer

I agree with Dennis, this sounds like a good deal for you (as long as all of the tenants qualify). I would just make sure you are following the "you + two" laws of the Fort Collins area and, as the other posts have mentioned, include a clause on joint and several liability for rent.

Logan Brown · Answer

You + 2 is definitely a thing here in Fort Collins and is actually enforced with surprising regularity. Families (blood family) are essentially exempt, but when unrelated people get into the mix, that’s when violations start to pile up.

That being said, it is possible in all but a couple of the residential zones in Fort Collins (sorry, I can’t remember which few are not included) to submit an extra-occupancy application to the zoning board, which allows for more unrelated people to be able to live in the same house. There are still a few lines of red tape that you’ll need to be aware of, but there are some good options if you’ve got the time to dig through the beaurocratic maze that is the city of Fort Collins land use code.

Once you clear all those hurdles, I think the tips highlighted above give you a pretty good picture of what to plan for and expect.

Hope that is mildly helpful. 😀

Good luck!

Ben Cochran · Answer

Great info thanks!

Should I rent my rental unit to two couples?

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