Florida - How can I legally prevent a tenant from moving in someone else?

[kalan85]

Florida

I rent a small 1+1 500sqft upstairs apartment above my house and want to minimize as much noise as possible, so the less people living up there the better. If a tenant wants to move someone else in, is there any legal means for me to prevent that? If I were to run a background/credit check on this new potential tenant and find it to be unsatisfactory, would I be able to deny tenancy to them? I already have a 3 day overnight guest policy, but that only goes so far. I always do monthly leases as well in case I need to end it for reasons like this.

 

[Gail in Georgia]

" If a tenant wants to move someone else in, is there any legal means for me to prevent that? "

Of course there is. Your lease should specify who is allowed to occupy this rental unit.

If a tenant wants to add someone else to the lease, ALL parties (including you) must agree to this. You want to be fair with your credit/back ground checks but these often contain reasons not to approve additional tenants.

Gail

 

[kalan85]

" If a tenant wants to move someone else in, is there any legal means for me to prevent that? "

Of course there is. Your lease should specify who is allowed to occupy this rental unit.

If a tenant wants to add someone else to the lease, ALL parties (including you) must agree to this. You want to be fair with your credit/back ground checks but these often contain reasons not to approve additional tenants.

Gail

I guess what I should ask is if there is anything that would prevent me from denying an additional tenant from moving in? As I understand it I cannot discriminate against married couples and children of course. If the prospective boyfriend/girlfriend tenant passes the background check and there is really no other reason to deny tenancy other than I just don't want two people living up there, is that legal as well?

 

[xylene]

you can't stop the tenant from moving in spouse or children tho...

 

[DeenaCA]

If the apartment is the only rental unit that you own, and you are not otherwise engaged in the real estate industry (i.e. as a realtor, agent, etc), then it appears that you would be exempt under both the federal Fair Housing Act and the Florida statutes (see http://www.leg.state.fl.us/statutes/index.cfm?App_mode=Display_Statute&Search_String=&URL=0700-0799/0760/Sections/0760.29.html). This is known as the "Mrs. Murphy exemption" and it applies to landlords renting no more than 3 single-family homes or one owner-occupied multifamily of up to 4 units. Florida state law mirrors the federal law.

If you fall under this exemption, you can make rental decisions on bases that would otherwise be illegal, including family size, race, and religion. It's still illegal to run discriminatory ads ("Christian only'), but you can rent to the tenant you want. It's probably safer to terminate the tenancy without giving a reason, but if exempt you may limit tenancy to no more than one person.

 

[kalan85]

The owner is my Father who does own multiple rental units. He just has me run things where I live as far as renting goes. I suppose this makes me an "agent"?

 

[LdiJ]

The owner is my Father who does own multiple rental units. He just has me run things where I live as far as renting goes. I suppose this makes me an "agent"?

Yep, that makes you an agent.

 

[FarmerJ]

So if your going to give say female tenant notice to move out after she moves male friend in then what you may want to look into is if you can give to him a john doe notice every thing would be the same as her notice but instead of Mary Merry this is your notice to be vacate 1234 Dracula drive ( Uppper? apt 1? unless you each have own address) by X date signed ( your name ) and your address make multiple copies, you send his via confirmed mail delivery if you don't have his name and make it to jOhn doe, hers send it out I suppose one copy confirmed mail delivery and another via certified so that way even if she claims she didn't get one a court wont likely believe her if you show two methods of delivery and still tries to say she didn't get notice. AS to your mail Id suggest you get a post office box if she can easily access your mail since you don't want to be sharing with a tenant while youre in process of getting them out ( where they could tamper with - steal mail that you may need like returned to you by post office certified mail or eventual court papers sent out via mail.

 

[DeenaCA]

It's the status of the owner that counts. If your dad does not fall under the "Mrs. Murphy" exemption described in post #5, then there might be a problem with limiting occupancy of a 1-bedroom unit to 1 person (it is not a studio, correct?). The fair housing laws give some leeway to Mrs. Murphy, but landlords renting more than 3 or 4 units are expected to know and follow the laws.