Landlord / Tenant Rental Guidelines

If, you are thinking of getting a roommate to share some of the high rental burden, you can make sharing a lot easier by taking time out to learn all about a roommate’s legal rights and responsibilities. A fun, party loving roommate will not necessarily turn out to be a roommate, with whom it would be a pleasant experience to share accommodation. Before, agreeing to share your rental unit with anyone, do consider, whether your potential roommate’s personality, health habits and lifestyle, earnings and budget, friends – as in, birds of a feather flock together, kind of thing; including pets, if any, jive with you.

Once, potential roommates pass muster, do draft an agreement, putting everything in writing, right from how the rent, utilities and security deposit will be split, to house rules relating to pets and pet security deposits, to whether, shared accommodation is to be a smoking or non-smoking zone, and if not, a smoking zone should be demarcated. As well, identify partying hours and drug use or lack of it, thereof, late hours and noise, whether, overnight guests are allowed, and if so, how often. Last, but not least, lay down the sharing of household chores by chalking out a cleaning schedule.

As for a landlord, he / she should ensure all roommates have signed the rental agreement, as that will make each, individually responsible for paying the entire rent, each month. And, if a tenant has already signed a lease and moved in, and later decides to take on a roommate, it should all be done with the landlord’s approval.

No doubt, the landlord would like to screen his / her potential tenant, checking out his / her credit score, as well as, getting both security and pet deposit, from the new tenant add-on. Perhaps, the landlord may also like to raise the rent, as there is an additional person occupying the rental property. He / she may also wish to draw up a new lease, to ensure all co-tenants signing it are responsible for paying the rent and for looking after his / her property.

The new lease will ensure that all of them are equally liable for non-payment of rent, excessive noise or any damage to the property. Therefore, any roommate who is tardy in paying his / her rental share should be encouraged to move out as quickly as possible, while the search begins for a more suitable one.

Any damage caused by a roommate should be made a clean breast of, and playing the role of a perfect tenant by co-operating with your landlord in getting the damage repaired, may let you off the hook. Then too, you, by yourself cannot evict an irresponsible roommate, but assisting the landlord can make it easier to do so. And, in case, a roommate becomes violent during the eviction process, you can always file an anti-harassment or domestic violence order for self-protection.

As for landlords, they should view taking of necessary precautions, such as, screening tenants and conducting background checks on prospective tenants, including ensuring whatever is promised in the rental lease is provided, as their insurance for a litigation free landlord / tenant relationship. A simple click of the mouse and any landlord or property manager can visit www.e-renter.com for tenant screening and background check services. www.e-renter.com, the best tenant screening agency in America!