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What Tenants and Landlords Should Know About Adding Someone to a Lease

What Tenants and Landlords Should Know About Adding Someone to a Lease

According to a study done in 2017, 79 million adults lived in a shared home.

There are times when a tenant may want to add someone to their lease agreement. Adding a tenant to a lease agreement is entirely possible. It is often financially beneficial for the tenant, especially if they have trouble making the rent consistently.

However, some rules must be followed for the addition to be a successful one. If you are either a tenant or a landlord and are ready to add someone to a lease, here's a closer look at how to go about adding someone to a lease, the right way.

Put It In Writing

Any request to add someone to a lease agreement is best done in a letter. A tenant may wish to add someone to a lease agreement if they are in a relationship with them or they want a roommate.

The best way for the tenant to request this from the landlord is to put it in writing detailing the reason for a change in the lease agreement.

Occupancy Limits

Occupancy limits are something that landlords need to consider before they agree to add another person to a lease agreement. In some states, there are local occupancy limits. If the landlord does not research this carefully they could end up breaking the law. 

There are bedroom occupancy limits in some states. If the bedroom occupancy limit is at risk, this is one reason the landlord can deny adding someone to a lease.

Do Due Diligence

The next thing a landlord should do once they have verified that the occupancy limit is not at risk is to legally add the other person to the lease agreement. 

The person added to the lease needs to fill out a rental application form. A landlord will normally do a background check and reference check on the applicant, especially if they don't know them very well.

Review the Details

Once the addition of the tenant to the lease agreement gets completed. The landlord should go over the details of the lease with the tenant.

Rules of the apartments or houses must be discussed and the price of rent confirmed.

After that, you should make sure that everybody has a copy of the lease agreement.

Legally Adding Someone to a Lease

Adding someone to a lease is something that many tenants and landlords often wish to do. However, before this can take place certain procedures must be followed. 

Both landlords and tenants need to understand that there should be a written request. Additionally, the laws of the state are a priority when it comes to occupancy.

The tenant added to the lease must fill out a rental application form like any other tenant. Once due diligence is done and everything is legal the new person can be added to the lease.

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