Guests in rented room not approved

[reddsman14]

What is the name of your state? TN
I'm renting a room in my house and lease stipulates "regular overnight guests will require landlord notice/approval" and my renter insists on having a boyfriend over all the time including nights, without my approval. What is my recourse? Can I have him removed by the police due to trespassing? I'm not supposed to have any unscreened company due to having children in the house, so I should've been more strict in the lease, but that's all I have in the lease with that regard

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state? TN
I'm renting a room in my house and lease stipulates "regular overnight guests will require landlord notice/approval" and my renter insists on having a boyfriend over all the time including nights, without my approval. What is my recourse? Can I have him removed by the police due to trespassing? I'm not supposed to have any unscreened company due to having children in the house, so I should've been more strict in the lease, but that's all I have in the lease with that regard

You can inform your tenant that s/he is breaking the terms of the lease by having a regular unauthorized guest spend the night. Your recourse if the tenant continues to ignore the terms of the lease is eviction.

 

[adjusterjack]

I'm renting a room in my house

That's your first mistake.

lease stipulates "regular overnight guests will require landlord notice/approval"

That's your second mistake. You should have prohibited overnight guests. Period.

That's a very ambiguous provision because 1 - you already have notice. The boyfriend's presence till now is your notice, and 2 - you have given constructive approval by allowing it to go on till now.

Ambiguous contract provisions are often construed against the party who wrote the contract.

What is my recourse?

That question suggests that you have never studied the TN Landlord-Tenant statutes, which is your third mistake, where you will find your recourse in Part 5 - 66-28-505:

Tennessee Code § 66-28-505 (2021) - Noncompliance by Tenant — Failure to Pay Rent :: 2021 Tennessee Code :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia

For future reference here is the entire group of statutes.

Tennessee Code Title 66, Chapter 28 (2021) - Uniform Residential Landlord and Tenant Act :: 2021 Tennessee Code :: US Codes and Statutes :: US Law :: Justia

Can I have him removed by the police due to trespassing?

No. He's not there performing a criminal act. I'm sure you can find the definition of trespassing by googling the TN criminal code.

Even if the police come, they will call it a civil matter.

I'm not supposed to have any unscreened company due to having children in the house, so I should've been more strict in the lease, but that's all I have in the lease with that regard

Yes, you should have been more strict in the lease.

All you can do now is follow the instructions in the statute and hope that your tenant accepts your notice without a fight. If she doesn't you could end up in costly litigation that you might lose.

 

[stealth2]

I'm not supposed to have any unscreened company due to having children in the house

This has me curious... Is this a requirement due to a custody situation?

 

[zddoodah]

What is my recourse?

If your tenant won't comply with the rules, as set forth in the lease, your recourse is to evict her (whether for a violation of the lease or (and I'm making an assumption here) simply because the lease is terminable at will). Did you really not know that?

Can I have him removed by the police due to trespassing?

No one here can predict what some police department in an unknown city in Tennessee might do. However, as you have described the situation, he's not trespassing. He's there with the permission of a resident.

I'm not supposed to have any unscreened company due to having children in the house

Huh?

 

[quincy]

This has me curious... Is this a requirement due to a custody situation?

reddsman14 does have shared parenting of an 11-year-old daughter and, at least according to his previous thread, had primary custody.

One option not yet mentioned is that reddsman14 could always screen his tenant’s boyfriend.

 

[stealth2]

eddsman14 does have shared parenting of an 11-year-old daughter and, at least according to his previous thread, had primary custody.

I didn’t check p/x, but suspected something similar. If ex is aware, he should expect legal action from her sooner rather than later unless this situation is resolved swiftly.

 

[Zigner]

The OP, who has his 11-year-old daughter living with him, should reconsider renting out rooms in his house until his daughter is older.

 

[quincy]

The OP, who has his 11-year-old daughter living with him, should reconsider renting out rooms in his house until his daughter is older.

Most people will not rent out rooms in their homes unless there is financial need. When children live in the house, however, careful screening of tenants become more important.

I can understand reddsman14’s concerns about having unauthorized, unscreened guests spending time in his house but he has a condition in his lease that can and should be enforced.