Renting a room to someone with a 17yr old child

4 Replies

I have a room for rent and I have a prospective applicant with a 17 year old son. The kid will be turning 18yrs old in August. What will an experience landlord look for? Do you have the 17 year old fill out an application? Do you meet the 17 year old before having the dad fill out the application? Can I ask for the 17 year old's I.D? How can I be sure the 17 year old kid is his child? Any help would be appreciated.

When you say "room for rent"... This is a single room in a home occupied by others or yourself in an otherwise shared space? Or is it a complete / private residence for the man and his 17 year old son?

This is a single room in a home I occupy.

I would think it would be best to rent to a single adult since it is just a room for rent and I would keep looking for a single tenant to rent to. Two people occupying a room together and using the bathroom may cause issues with other tenants in your other rooms.

Since the child is a minor I do not think you can do any screening now. Perhaps when the lease is up for renewal and the child is 18 years old you could then do a screening but it may not make sense to if he or she is good tenant at that point and continuing to share a room with the leaseholder. I would have both of them sign the lease though once the 17 year old is 18 yo if they are still living there.

Yes, meet them. Will they be a full time occupant? do they have a car? you will not be able to get any criminal background on a minor so a background check is pointless. In addition rules around guests can be important. Not sure if a license copy would be allowed if they have one.

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