Legal Q about renting apartments/rooms.

rmemedic

rmemedic

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The gf is looking for a place to rent. Either a single room apartment, or a room in a house.

We have come across it a few times now, where in the ad it states "no overnight" guests or "S/O can stay over one night per month".

One of these places was an apartment, the other was a basement converted with a small kitchen, bedroom, bathroom with a private entrance.

I don't get how they can put such a strict limitation on it, or even how legal it is for them to do so.
We're both quiet people, she doesn't party, and I'm there maybe every other weekend. Sometimes we go a few weeks where we don't have the time, and in the summer I'm at the track every weekend so neither of us will be there.

I understand they don't want to have some party animal there, especially if its in the basement of their home, but limiting guests like that seems to be quite the invasion of someone's own movement when they're paying decent money.
 
Maybe you have to just ask and present your case to gain some trust. It's their property so they can set the rules, especially if they are on site to enforce the rules. More than likely they've been burned by loser tenants before so they are setting boundaries so they don't get into the same situations they've had in the past.

As far as legality, if they say these are the rules and you say ok and move in, then you have to follow the rules.
 
People can put any limitation on thier rental property they want for potential renters..... It's not illegal to have pets or smoke indoors in your own (rented) home but a renter can choose to rent to non smoking non pet owning people if they want.

It's up to you to decide if you want to live under those conditions and sign a contract to those terms.

Pass and find something else.
 
This is one of those contractual terms that I simply laugh at. Its just ridiculous from an enforceability standpoint.

And one of them is an apartment? har har har.
 
OpenGambit said:
This is one of those contractual terms that I simply laugh at. Its just ridiculous from an enforceability standpoint.

And one of them is an apartment? har har har.
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Why so?

The one place has been on the market since October... Which is crazy because it's a nice little private spot for only $600/month. I'm assuming that this "no overnight guest" rule makes people not interested.
 
Renting a room with shared kitchen, bath, common areas leaves you with very few landlord/tenant protections. Landlord can kick you out on 24hr. notice, maybe less iirc. Landlord is trying to reduce cost/annoyance factor by limiting guests. Nothing worse than hearing the shower run for !/2 hr. extra every day and you're getting nothing for it. Laundry? Oy. Talk to potential landlord, explain who you are (medic is good) your plan and offer of additional money. You should be prepared to pay to play.
 
When I was looking for a place, one person said I could have overnight guests for a $10 charge each night. So if my S/O came over every other weekend I'd be paying an extra $40 a month, definitely didn't end up moving in there. Try talking to them though, maybe if you show that you're responsible and not trashy they'll take that out.
 
Honestly, its because there is no way they can actually enforce it, unless you are parking in their space, its not clear to me how they would even know. ( for an apartment )

In any case, it probably is a good idea to just have a chat about it in the beginning. I doubt its a deal breaker for them.

Frankly, before I bought my place, I tended to fill in just my income line and minimal other information and always got the place. Thats all they care about really.

the one thing landlords needs to be when they start a fight with their tenant, is to be squeaky clean (do you know any landlord that is?).


Long story short, I am not sure its illegal, but I doubt any indivdual landlords have the muscle to actually enforce that kind of thing.

(I am talking about separate units tho. I would never consider a room in a house, in the context of a room in a house, the restriction seems much more reasonable - after all you wouldn't want a bunch of strangers in your house all the time, theft by itself is probably a big enough issue.)
 
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un enforcable....period.

So they want to kick you out? Fine and dandy, drag that **** out through the courts and maybe, just MAYBE they'll have you out in 6 months to a year...if winter time sets in, good luck with that one.

In the end, the bias is heavy scewed towards the renter....too much in fact.
 
Red_Liner740 said:
un enforcable....period.

So they want to kick you out? Fine and dandy, drag that **** out through the courts and maybe, just MAYBE they'll have you out in 6 months to a year...if winter time sets in, good luck with that one.

In the end, the bias is heavy scewed towards the renter....too much in fact.
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need to separate stand alone apartment from room in home, vastly different rules apply, not unlike motel rental
 
rmemedic said:
The gf is looking for a place to rent. Either a single room apartment, or a room in a house.

We have come across it a few times now, where in the ad it states "no overnight" guests or "S/O can stay over one night per month".

One of these places was an apartment, the other was a basement converted with a small kitchen, bedroom, bathroom with a private entrance.

I don't get how they can put such a strict limitation on it, or even how legal it is for them to do so.
We're both quiet people, she doesn't party, and I'm there maybe every other weekend. Sometimes we go a few weeks where we don't have the time, and in the summer I'm at the track every weekend so neither of us will be there.

I understand they don't want to have some party animal there, especially if its in the basement of their home, but limiting guests like that seems to be quite the invasion of someone's own movement when they're paying decent money.
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As a landlord I had to throw someone out for this. I had three renters sharing a 3 bed house and their rent was all in, including hydro, heat etc. The one guy virtually moved his girlfriend in. She would come with her laundry and shower for 30 minutes at a time for about 5 nights a week as well as inviting friends around. She also occupied one of two parking spaces with her car.

It's there to protect landlords and other tenants of a shared property. How enforceable it is is debatable. But can you imagine where someone rents an apt in a building then invites 5 mates o live there? They all drive, they all use hydro etc, they all create noise however quiet they are. Like most laws, terms and conditions it's there to protect against extremes.

My advice would be that your girlfriend is upfront with any future landlord about the situation whereby you may stay over a couple nights a week.
 
When I rented rooms I mentioned the same thing to my tenants. This was because it was a shared low occupancy home and utilities were included. I also said that I was flexible as long as the arrangements wasn't abused...ie if someone came and stayed for a week or so I'd consider that an abuse.
 
I wrote the same stipulation for my Dad's lease contracts (2 apartments)... why? Because 1) it takes up parking space from other tenants, 2) if I don't know you, I don't trust you unless you're paying money... and even then it's iffy trust and 3) liability: if, god forbid, something happens and all of a sudden there's an unidentifiable body in the building, it creates a lot of headache and opens potential for additional liability claims.

All tenants have to sign a "I will lock my doors and windows and not be a moron, because if I forget to I'm responsible for whatever gets stolen or happens to me". This "guest" hasn't signed that.
 
Fiery254 said:
As a landlord I had to throw someone out for this. I had three renters sharing a 3 bed house and their rent was all in, including hydro, heat etc. The one guy virtually moved his girlfriend in. She would come with her laundry and shower for 30 minutes at a time for about 5 nights a week as well as inviting friends around. She also occupied one of two parking spaces with her car.

It's there to protect landlords and other tenants of a shared property. How enforceable it is is debatable. But can you imagine where someone rents an apt in a building then invites 5 mates o live there? They all drive, they all use hydro etc, they all create noise however quiet they are. Like most laws, terms and conditions it's there to protect against extremes.

My advice would be that your girlfriend is upfront with any future landlord about the situation whereby you may stay over a couple nights a week.
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Yeah... Except with my work schedule and the fact I live over an hour away where I go to work, it wouldn't be feasible for me to be there all that often.
And I'm someone with respect, even when the driveway is open I still park on the street so the owner's spot is always open.
I've fixed stuff around the house without being asked, like the main door lock that was impossible to turn. How awesome would it be to come home from work, put your key in the door and it works like new because that guy that is there once or twice a month fixed it?

We stay in her room except for coming and going or making meals. My bathroom time in the morning is maybe 10 min, if that. Laundry, I do that at my place during the week.
All in all, it's pretty minimal for me to be there. In the summer We won't spend a single weekend there from late April to October basically.

Just ridiculous, because we would have a place together if our jobs were closer to each other.
I understand that these owners want to protect themselves, but when it's a standalone unit where there is no interaction, I don't get it.

She has messaged a couple places now, including one that stipulates the no overnight rule, and she has explained the situation. She doesn't have a car so it's not exactly an option for her to come up here weekends, as I would be spending over $100 on gas there, back and then again sunday... Hotel all weekend would be expensive too.

Thanks for the input guys, was just feeling it out how this can be enforced or any leway on this.
 
Tell 'em you're a gun nut, nobody dies on your watch. They'll appreciate the added security. Ahight settle down, jokes. Like you did right there^^^^ talk to the landlord. Most people are reasonable.
 
rmemedic said:
Yeah... Except with my work schedule and the fact I live over an hour away where I go to work, it wouldn't be feasible for me to be there all that often.
And I'm someone with respect, even when the driveway is open I still park on the street so the owner's spot is always open.
I've fixed stuff around the house without being asked, like the main door lock that was impossible to turn. How awesome would it be to come home from work, put your key in the door and it works like new because that guy that is there once or twice a month fixed it?

We stay in her room except for coming and going or making meals. My bathroom time in the morning is maybe 10 min, if that. Laundry, I do that at my place during the week.
All in all, it's pretty minimal for me to be there. In the summer We won't spend a single weekend there from late April to October basically.

Just ridiculous, because we would have a place together if our jobs were closer to each other.
I understand that these owners want to protect themselves, but when it's a standalone unit where there is no interaction, I don't get it.

She has messaged a couple places now, including one that stipulates the no overnight rule, and she has explained the situation. She doesn't have a car so it's not exactly an option for her to come up here weekends, as I would be spending over $100 on gas there, back and then again sunday... Hotel all weekend would be expensive too.

Thanks for the input guys, was just feeling it out how this can be enforced or any leway on this.
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You're missed my point. This isn't about you and your good or bad habits. It's a caveat that some landlords put into lease agreements there as protection. I'm sure if you're as pleasant and reasonable in real life as you are on here then I highly doubt i'd have an issue with you visiting one of my properties. Maybe my daughter but not my rental!! Don't take it personally and i appreciate it may seem petty to you. But, unfortunately, there are people who will take the piss if you don't spell out absolutely everything to them up front. Like I said, if your girlfriend sees a property that she really likes maybe it's worth you both going to meet the landlord. Even offer a 3 month trial lease to prove you're as good as your word.
 
BNKN said:
Tell 'em you're a gun nut, nobody dies on your watch. They'll appreciate the added security. Ahight settle down, jokes. Like you did right there^^^^ talk to the landlord. Most people are reasonable.
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Ha, I don't bring up guns when I don't know people... could offend them. And I know how nervous they can make some people so I wouldn't ever bring them in to someone else's house that I didn't know.

Fiery254 said:
You're missed my point. This isn't about you and your good or bad habits. It's a caveat that some landlords put into lease agreements there as protection. I'm sure if you're as pleasant and reasonable in real life as you are on here then I highly doubt i'd have an issue with you visiting one of my properties. Maybe my daughter but not my rental!! Don't take it personally and i appreciate it may seem petty to you. But, unfortunately, there are people who will take the piss if you don't spell out absolutely everything to them up front. Like I said, if your girlfriend sees a property that she really likes maybe it's worth you both going to meet the landlord. Even offer a 3 month trial lease to prove you're as good as your word.
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I can understand they have to protect themselves... I tend to forget how people will try and squeeze everything they can out of a situation instead of just being decent people.
I'm sure if we need to, both of us will go and talk to a landlord.
 
My friend with benefits rents a room also and I'm at her place all the time. Previous tenant there had a bf who was there all the time and basically moved in so their costs went up and they kicked her out. My fwb was up front with them and said she would not move anyone in but once in a while she will have someone over night. They were ok with that. Just tell them up front and assure them you aren't going to be moving and you have your own place etc... If they accept then cool otherwise she will always have this issue when she moves in.
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