Consider this scenario: A 21-year-old recent college graduate applies to become a tenant of your property. You run a background check, employment check, and credit check and everything comes out clean. But while calling personal references and her previous landlord, you discover that the young woman supposedly has a boyfriend who basically lives with her. Furthermore, there are offhanded remarks made about said boyfriend being an illegal drug user or, worse yet, a dealer.
What do you do? You certainly don’t want to open yourself, and your property, up to potential trouble with the law. And you don’t want anyone living in your property who is not on the lease. But you can’t discriminate against a tenant based on rumors and hearsay.
If you liked the applicant, she gave you a good first impression, and everything in her application and background check turns out solid, then go with your gut to sign her to a lease. But before you do, have a candid talk with the applicant that expresses your rules against people living in the home that are not on the lease, and that breaking such rules will result in eviction. Be stern from the start and allow her to decide whether something is worth risking her financial stability and housing future. Chances are, she’ll either withdraw her application and look elsewhere for a place with a more lenient landlord, or she’ll agree to your terms and hold up her end of the bargain.
