All Forum Posts by: Joshua Johnson

Nathan, I appreciate your quick response. The truth is that at the moment I have so much going on that I am not ready to let my current tenants leave and deal with a vacancy. I would rather keep them in place for the next year while I become more comfortable with being a landlord, and to allow for the bank account to build a bigger cushion to absorb potential vacancy costs, etc.
Lets for a moment disregard the discrepancy in deposits between the tenants, because I know what i SHOULD do about that, but it does not seem feasible for them at the moment, and i am willing to overlook it in order to keep the rents coming in.

 With that said; lets say that I am renting out 2 units within the same house, to 4 people. And those 4 individuals have an understanding that they each pay 1/4 of the whole house's monthly rent. 

I think what makes most sense to me is to write one lease for the entire house for a 1-year term, and make it clear to the tenants that they have all paid last month's rent via their deposits, even if at the time we considered the deposit for security. now they have in writing that they are all responsible, together, for the monthly sum of rent, and that they all have last months rent paid for. Additionally, i'll make it clear to them (in writing) that they have a combined security deposit of X amount, based off the remaining sum of deposits from the two individuals that actually made a security deposit beyond their last months rent, and that, should an issue occur, that security deposit may be applied to resolve any damages and they will be left to reconcile the financial discrepancy among themselves. 

in a nutshell:  1-Year Lease for the whole house based upon the combined unit's rents. All tenants have last months rent paid in full. 2 of 4 tenants have contributed to the security deposit, which is equal to 1/2 gross monthly rent. Should that security deposit be used to rectify damage or reimbursed, the tenants are responsible for reconciling who owes or is owed what amount, based upon record of who in fact paid for the deposit in the first place. 

i hope this made sense.

Hello All,

In January I took control of my first multifamily in Worcester, MA. The tenants I inherited are all TAW, but have agreed to sign onto a fixed 1-year lease beginning in June'22. They came with a mixed history of deposits and the way they structured the living/paying situation is a bit unconventional. the first floor unit is a 2BD currently set up as a 1 BD with one female living in it. The second floor is a 3BD with three men, they are all buddies and split the rent for the whole house 4 ways, each paying the same amount. Im fine with this, as long as they're paying. but when it comes to writing the new lease, im unsure of what to do. 1 lease for the whole house? 4 leases for each individual? a lease for each floor? but then how do i write up what the payments are for each unit? im sure im overthingking this but i would so appreciate some feedback.

additionally, as i mentioned, they have a mixed deposit history. my first floor female has $500 deposists for last & security, although her indivdual rent payment on the new lease would be $650. two of the boys upstairs have only security deposits of $625, which i supppose can go to last month if it is not necessary for damage reparations. and the third upstairs tenant has paid $625 for both security and last month. 

Truly I do not think I can ask them to come up with additional payments to complete their deposits. I guess my question is how would you structure a lease in this situation where they all communally pay for the whole house together, equally, but do not all have equaly "skin in the game" when it comes to security. 

any feedback would be so appreciated, thank you