Landlord Question and Answer Forum

Rented out a two bedroom unit to a young woman who moved in with a roommate. Her name was on the written lease, but his was not (though I ran a credit check on both of them.) She moved out with 3 months left on her lease and arranged for someone to reside in her room, which I allowed. When her written lease expired, the new person approached me asking for a new year-long written lease in his name, and I agreed, presuming the arrangement with the other guy would continue. It turns out that the guy who lived there for the full year wanted to arrange a lease with me and live there alone, and he's quite upset. Additionally, guy #2 with the new lease wants guy #1 out so he can move in a friend instead. I don't want to be the bad guy here, and the truth is that guy #1 was a great tenant who caused no problems and always paid rent on time, but guy #2 came to me first regarding a written lease. I'm not sure how to handle the situation, because I don't want guy #1 to be forced out.

So my question is - can I have two separate written leases for two different occupants, thus protecting both guys from being forced out by the other?

Posted by Jay B, PA on Tuesday, August 10, 2010

sounds like a huge mess just waiting to explode. if you already wrote-up and signed with guy #2, done deal. if not, there is no way to keep all parties happy. If they are not willing ro share the house, tell them to flip a coin or draw cards, something random. it would be a shame to loose a good tennent. do you have another property he might be interested in?

Posted by Forrest H, MI on Tuesday, August 10, 2010