Can I ask for the kid's name to be moved in

[shawnusa]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Mass

I have a 4 bedroom house going to rent out. One family with 5 kids is interest. 3 in high school and 2 in elementary school. Can I ask the parent to give me the children's name so that I can sure the high school kids are good kids?

Thanks!

 

[atomizer]

Yes, and run a criminal and background check on the parents as well. Make sure the parents have a steady work history too. Take photos of the house and put them in the rental folder for safe keeping. Don’t forget to get the SS numbers of all adults and the two teenagers and do not give possession to them until you have cashed the rent and the deposit. Do not let them move in on the promise that they will be able to pay you all funds later in the month. Most importantly, have an attorney write your lease or rental agreement for you.

 

[Zigner]

Yes, and run a criminal and background check on the parents as well. Make sure the parents have a steady work history too. Take photos of the house and put them in the rental folder for safe keeping. Don’t forget to get the SS numbers of all adults and the two teenagers and do not give possession to them until you have cashed the rent and the deposit. Do not let them move in on the promise that they will be able to pay you all funds later in the month. Most importantly, have an attorney write your lease or rental agreement for you.

The OP has no reason to get the social security numbers of the minors...

 

[atomizer]

The OP has no reason to get the social security numbers of the minors...

Unless of course they happen to turn info adults while still living in the home.
If parents turn out to be bad tenants, maybe they care enough about their kids not to ruin their rental history.

 

[FarmerJ]

All deposit funds and first (last ?) months rent , you should refuse personal check and only accept cash or cashiers check bought at YOUR bank . No money orders either. Cash cannot bounce , later on if you accept checks for rent so be it again cash cannot bounce. Minor children do not need to be listed on the lease , you can list the adults names and write in >five minor children x number male x number female, You can also request month and year each was born in a application. (if they stay on a long time )The reason would be later on but well before the older teens birthdays you could simply go see them in person and make a copy of the 18 yr olds ID and SS card on the spot , ( yes bring a copier that can run off a inverter plugged into your car ) the reason for this would be that at some point if the parents decided to move but now grown Suzie refuses to move with mom and dad and stays behind moving her signifigant other Spawnof Satan in , you will already have her ID information making it abit easier to evict. BTW the police dept that served the applicants last known address might be able to tell you if there were any police call records for the tenants last known address, It wont tell you if they were angels but alot of calls during the tenancy will signal a bit more research.

 

[Isis1]

All deposit funds and first (last ?) months rent , you should refuse personal check and only accept cash or cashiers check bought at YOUR bank . No money orders either. Cash cannot bounce , later on if you accept checks for rent so be it again cash cannot bounce. Minor children do not need to be listed on the lease , you can list the adults names and write in >five minor children x number male x number female, You can also request month and year each was born in a application. (if they stay on a long time )The reason would be later on but well before the older teens birthdays you could simply go see them in person and make a copy of the 18 yr olds ID and SS card on the spot , ( yes bring a copier that can run off a inverter plugged into your car ) the reason for this would be that at some point if the parents decided to move but now grown Suzie refuses to move with mom and dad and stays behind moving her signifigant other Spawnof Satan in , you will already have her ID information making it abit easier to evict. BTW the police dept that served the applicants last known address might be able to tell you if there were any police call records for the tenants last known address, It wont tell you if they were angels but alot of calls during the tenancy will signal a bit more research.

there went the last of my wonton soup on my desk. thanks alot!

 

[atomizer]

The age of majority in Mass is 18. Get those SS numbers before renting. Once they are in the home it is very unlikely they will give it to you. If you are not sure about this and you have a gut feeling about this family, do yourself a favor and find a reason to not let them have the house. You can also rent month to month with an inspection lets say in 6 months. At that time you can agree to sign for a yearly lease.

 

[Zigner]

High school starts at 14

 

[atomizer]

High school starts at 14

Yet again, depending on month a kid is born, 15 may the the age of entry into HS. Need I mention that not all kids finish HS on schedule

 

[cosine]

Yet again, depending on month a kid is born, 15 may the the age of entry into HS. Need I mention that not all kids finish HS on schedule

And I know someone who graduated HS at 12.

 

[atomizer]

I know someone that never went to HS.

 

[Banned_Princess]

I know someone that never went to HS.

lol, was it you ??




H a ha . JK.

 

[atomizer]

lol, was it you ??

H a ha . JK.

Gee, that was so clever! Ever thought of having your own comedy show.

 

[shawnusa]

Thank you all so much for the information. This is my first time try to become a landlord and a good landlord. All I want is they pay the rent and keep the place clean. I will do everything I can to meet their demand. When I ask the parent if they are interest in the house, they said yes. When I ask for the names of the children, no response. They only give me the name of the parent. That make me nervous. 5 kids, 3 in high school. Total 7 people live in a 4 bedroom house. I am ok if they are good parent and nice kids. Without those information, I am not sure if I want them to come over to see inside the house. BTW, they already drive by and saw the outside of the house.

 

[FarmerJ]

It is your property ,if they contact you again since they already declined to provide the information tell them you made a reasonable request , and they did not comply so they should look elsewhere. AND since its your first time go ahead and ask first, last and deposit if you were not asking for last months rent before.