previously. You need to find someone who is upfront about their references and is happy to provide them.
SOMEONE WITH ROOMMATES
This might sound judgmental, and it might eliminate a segment of potential tenants, but before you skip this section, please hear me out. Once you’ve dealt with a few roommate rental situations that went downhill, you’ll understand why I recommend caution here, and why you might want to reconsider your policy in this area before any of the following situations ever happen to you. Here are just some scenarios and reasons that show roommate rentals can be more challenging: Let’s say you’re renting out to three roommates sharing your house, and each is paying a third of the monthly rent. Then something happens, and they have a fight or “falling out,” with one roommate packing up their bags and moving out early. Meanwhile, the other two tenants, happy to continue living there, can’t find a roommate soon enough yet can’t afford to cover the other third of the payment. Guess who’s paying the remaining rent for that month or two it takes to remind a new roommate? That’s right—you. You take the fall; you absorb the loss. But that’s not all. You’ll have to talk to your tenants, consider filing an eviction, to resolve an all-around sticky situation. Or consider this situation. One roommate moves out and a replacement roommate moves in. But, no one tells you this is happening for whatever reason. Regardless, suddenly you have this new tenant whom you’ve never screened or checked out, mailing you a check every month to pay their share of the rent. If you start accepting the checks, you could run into real problems if a) the new tenant suddenly stops paying you (or fails to pay in full or on time); or b) they cause property damage. You might want to evict them, but the eviction process becomes much trickier because you don’t have a signed lease with that tenant, yet
35
Powered by FlippingBook