Posted by Kaycee Miller | Aug 9, 2017 | Education | 23
To protect yourself and your property, every adult living at your rental unit should sign a lease agreement to hold them legally responsible for rent payments and conditions of the lease. Most standard leases stipulate that tenants are accountable for any guests’ behavior and are responsible for enforcing the property’s rules and regulations.
But what happens when a guest becomes more than just a temporary visitor to your property?
A long-term guest that considers your property his home, needs to be handled differently than the standard guest language in a lease agreement. Even if this long-term guest was not involved in the original lease signing process, it is in a landlord’s or property manager’s best interest to make sure any person living at the rental property is documented and accountable to the terms of the lease.
What is a Long-Term Guest?
Any person who stays at your property that is not listed on the lease agreement is considered a guest of your tenant. A temporary guest transitions into a long-term guest when they take up residence on your property without permission from a manager or owner.
While some states might have a designated time period in which a temporary visitor is classified as a long-term guest, in most cases a landlord can specify if a visitor becomes a long-term guest after 7, 14 or 30 days (or more). It is the responsibility of the landlord to include lease conditions about when he needs to be notified if a guest is staying at the property for an extended period of time and at which point the guest needs to be added to a lease agreement.
Why Do Tenants Have Long-Term Guests?
Your tenant may not even realize they are violating the conditions of your lease when they let a friend crash on the couch in between jobs or apartments. Or maybe a family member is visiting from out of town or going through a life change and needs the support of your tenant. Other common situations involve romantic relationships, where a tenant invites a boyfriend or girlfriend to stay with them. Or an adult child going through a transition. A couple days easily becomes a few weeks and after awhile, the temporary guests have been calling your property home for months.
Why Are Long-Term Guests Dangerous?
Long-term guests can become a liability to a landlord or manager when they fail to uphold the rules of your property and conditions in the lease agreement. A long-term guest can evolve into a bigger liability if you are in the process of evicting a leased tenant, but are unaware of an undocumented occupant. If someone claims to live at your property but is not listed on your rental agreement, the eviction process will become more complicated when the unlisted tenant makes a claim to your property and refuses to move out.
Do I need to have screen long-term guests?
As a landlord, it is your right and responsibility to protect your property, yourself and your residents by taking the appropriate steps to ensure your tenants are responsible renters. Anyone who signs a lease agreement to live at your rental property should gothrough a tenant screening process to ensure their fiscal responsibility and rule abiding behavior. If you require a long-term guest to become listed on the lease, you should proceed with your standard tenant screening criteria.
Get the Law On Your Side
Your state laws may have specific regulations about how you can enforce long-term guest clauses in your lease agreements. You should also consult state and local laws concerning the number of adults legally allowed per bedroom per property. Talking to a lawyer familiar with your region’s landlord-tenant laws is the best way to protect yourself, your property and your tenants’ rights.
Refusing to Sign
If a long-term guest refuses to go through with your screening process or sign your lease agreement you may be able to void the lease altogether and move forward with an eviction on the grounds that your tenant did not uphold the conditions of the lease regarding long-term guests.
A long-term guest is not necessarily a bad thing, but they do need to be held accountable for the lease terms and conditions of your property and the only way to enforce this is to have them sign an addendum adding them to the lease.
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About The Author
Kaycee Miller
Kaycee Miller manages marketing and media relations for Rentec Direct, bringing a unique perspective to the world of property management and proudly shares industry news, products, and trends within the community.
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23 Comments
bonnie on May 9, 2015 at 6:04 pm
My lease also stipulates a per diem penalty if a guest is there and we did not get notification. Some of these may not stand up in court, but the worst that can happen is a judge will disallow it.
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Kaycee on May 15, 2015 at 2:32 pm
Hi Bonnie,
A solid lease with specific language about how you expect your tenants to manage guests visiting the property, including notifying you, is very important and provides a good foundation for establishing clear lines of communications between you and your tenant. Thanks for the feedback!
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annie on May 14, 2015 at 6:16 pm
I always tell my tenants that long term guests get old fast. Like fresh fish ,after about 3days they both start to stink.
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RRB on September 3, 2017 at 5:35 am
Well said !
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group d result on April 4, 2018 at 2:25 am
Yes!
True and well said.Reply
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John Anway on October 12, 2018 at 1:44 am
Nice cliche, but vague and quite a meaningless thing to tell a tenant
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LAE on September 28, 2016 at 10:43 pm
Im the tenant on the lease. I had guests that refused to leave after three weeks of visiting. They have turned on me and have locked me out of the home i rent and im now being evicted. They are destroying the house, they are violent towards me when I try to go into the house, had me arrested for breaking a window that they broke, landlord wont help me, neither will the police. And Im being held responsible for alk of the damage they are causing to the house, i lost my job due to being arrested, and im living in my car. How can any of this be possible?
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Kaycee Wegener on September 29, 2016 at 2:57 pm
Hi LAE,
I am sorry to hear about your situation. Sounds really stressful. Unfortunately, since your name is on the lease, you will mostly likely be held responsible for all these events. Most rental agreements state that the lessee will be responsible for the behavior of their guests, including property damage. I would highly advise that you speak with a lawyer to help you figure out your options.
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John Anway on October 12, 2018 at 1:48 am
She already understands that she’s responsible, KC. I believe she was after a little advice
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Kaycee Miller on October 15, 2018 at 1:57 pm
Like I mentioned in my response to LAE, the best advice I can give is to speak with an attorney. Seeking legal counsel at this point, is really the only option, as they will be able to advise the renter on the best way to protect oneself, work with local law enforcement, and take further steps on regaining control of the property. It’s truly an unfortunate and stressful situation and I wish everyone dealing with challenging housing situations the best of luck.
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jay on July 7, 2017 at 6:49 am
That was the worst advise I think I’ve ever heard! Shame on you Kaycee Wegner………….yes unfortunately there are some @$#&*% people out there in the world who decieve and lie to gain a foot in the door. People who take advantage of those who are weak or suffer from mental illness. Kaycee makes this sound like your screwed, but your not. You also have rights. Talk to a judge, a doctor, but talk to someone. Take action. It will be rough going at first but these types of people don’t meet the same requirements of a guest………….am I not right???
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mh on August 10, 2017 at 7:05 am
Jay, I agree with Kaycee the the tenant will be responsible for property, after all, the tenant allowed them to enter the premises as their guest. If they were “forced out” of the home they rented, a call to the police and a trespassing warrant would have helped. In my experience, Lae is not telling the whole story.
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Ibpsguide on February 12, 2018 at 11:45 pm
Well said.
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Nokari Guide on February 21, 2018 at 3:53 am
This is amazing. Thanks for sharing…..
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shweta on March 14, 2018 at 4:34 am
you have mentioned all the valid points here. I agree with all these.
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RRB on March 19, 2018 at 4:36 am
This is the great information…
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John Anway on October 12, 2018 at 1:53 am
I see KC doesn’t reply but sends in the bots to back her up
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John on July 25, 2018 at 10:40 pm
Mabe property owners can learn to manage their own houses yay .Where i live owner have given up every house u see is alpine property management and i gotta say it makes me sad a house that once rented for 500 per month is 750 and the maintenance is worse than ever they deal with the sh*ttiest contractors ever every job is a rig job. How nice to be forced to pay 250 over normal rent and get less service and more rules and the excuse is to move in a better class of ppl a rep actually said that when i metioned an issue with price . soo im low class and ima brake ur house bc im kinda poor i can still pay rent and take care of my kids but thanks to all the bs kids go to public school and eat hot dogs 4 lunch so sumone else can be a middle man and get paid to do nuthing but take phone calls can process money orders. Alpine property management groups killing familys slowly your worse than dope dealers and robbers heres an idea if u dont wana manage a property dont by one to rent just live ur life stop makeing mine hard. Bc its not stoping sh*theads from moveing in they usually have more money than those of us who dont brake multiple laws everyday money comes easy to them but now on one side i have a neibor with 3 pit bulls and a bull mastiff guess what i smell on hot summer days hot baked sh*t. On the other side that guy pics his dogs poo up with a little bag and drives a volvo yall would say he passes ur criminal and background check and visual check till u catch on that he buys meth from the other neibor and dances naked in house with see thru curtains. Great job on those background check guys
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Sarkari Entry on October 6, 2018 at 3:58 am
Thanks for this info.
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sarkarianswer on November 23, 2018 at 12:06 am
Nice Article
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deniel04 on February 6, 2020 at 2:44 am
Thanks for the wonderful information.
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Heather Peake on February 6, 2020 at 6:27 am
You’re welcome. Glad you liked it!
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Flats in Zirakpur on March 18, 2021 at 11:00 pm
In India, this system is quite different.
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