You likely go through a rigorous screening process when you accept a new tenant into your rental. This should include a credit check, criminal and eviction check, reference checks, employment and income verification, contacting previous landlords, and possibly more. You put time and a lot of effort into these checks to make sure that the person that you’re accepting is not only going to pay their rent to you on time, but will take care of your property like it is their own. Why, then, would you want to risk opening your property up to unscreened tenants?
Your tenants (the ones that you went through the effort to screen) may bring others into your rental for a variety of reasons. They may have a significant other move in, a relative or friend that has hit hard times, or perhaps simply a new roommate that they haven’t mentioned. In some cases, they may even be trying to sublet your rental without telling you. Whatever the case, having unscreened tenants living in your property can be dangerous, so it’s best to know how to handle the situations as they come.
- The Dangers of Unscreened Tenants – There is a reason that you have gone to all the effort that you have gone to in order to screen your current tenants. There are dangers in allowing a person to live in your rental investment that you know nothing about, and they don’t all rest on the rent check coming in.
- Tenants’ Rights for Visitors – While you may worry over some tenants allowing “visitors” to essentially become unscreened tenants living in your rental property by letting them stay too long, you will need to be careful not to trample on your tenants’ rights to accept visitors while they’re renting from you.
- Long-Term Visitors – If you find out that your tenant is going to have or has had a long-term visitor, that doesn’t mean that it is the worst case scenario. Check out these tips on handle the situation as smoothly as possible.
- Unscreened Significant Others – You may have a tenant that has a significant other that wishes to move in after the lease has begun. If so, you would rather be alerted to this than have them try to sneak around you.
- Subletting through AirBNB or Home Away – Temporary subletting, as through a site such as AirBNB, is becoming a popular new trend to provide travellers with cheaper lodgings and tenants a bit of pocket money when they may be away from the property anyway, but what does it mean for a landlord?