Landlord Question and Answer Forum

I'd like to know how to legally cover my bases - husband wants to rent our house to his sister (we're still paying mortgage on it). She'd pay for the mortgage payment and all utilities. I think this is a rip-off. What to do to have rock-solid lease. Thank you in advance for any advice.

I am NOT a fan of renting to friends OR family. It almost always is a recipe for disaster. But nonetheless if you find yourself in this situation - treat them like ANY other person you would rent to. USE A GOOD LEASE, SET UP LL YOUR REQUIRMENTS in the lease up front. Make sure they understand and accept this. Let them know that this is a business arrangement not a personal one; they are signing a contract and that you expect them to follow it or face consequences. And the BIG thing is that if they do not follow the rules of the contract, you must be strong enough to follow through on the consequences even up to possibly evicting them. This web-site has an EXCELLENT lease where everything is completely spelled out.

Posted by Denise S, PA on Friday, June 5, 2009

Thank you for the info, I'm about to get the lease from this website. The problem is my husband who would let his sister just stay in the house and pay for the mortgage but I don't trust any of his family members and for that reason want to have a legally-binding contract - I can already see her paying in instalments, not paying on time...

Posted by Melissa M, IN on Friday, June 5, 2009