I'm living in SC right now and I found someone to rent a room in my house (I'm the owner). What should I do as far as paperwork goes? Security deposit, etc? I found a lease agreement online, does it need to get notarized or something? Do I need to make it specific to sharing a house?

I'd appreciate any advice from someone who's done this before! thanks

here's the agreement I found

http://www.ilrg.com/forms/lease-res/us/sc

2/4/2010 5:04:16 PM

I'm not sure with the legal stuff, but you need be clear if this person is merely renting a room or is in fact a full fledged roommate, complete with shared use of common areas. I assume the latter, unless you're operating a hostel or a bed and breakfast.

2/4/2010 5:12:35 PM

You don't need to have it notarized, a signature will do. I would recommend getting a security deposit, but that's just to ensure that the person can come up with more than 1 month's rent at a time (which means they should be able to continue paying) and they should care something about the condition they leave the room in.

Make sure you take pictures of the room and its condition before they move in.

That seems to be a pretty thorough lease agreement, but make sure it pertains to renting a room/roommate like ^ said. Also, I don't see anything in there about breaking lease, but maybe I missed it?

You also may want to change this language, or tweak it a bit, unless you're letting a family stay there.

Quote :

"USE OF PREMISES. The Premises shall be used and occupied by Tenant and Tenant's immediate family, consisting of ______________________ __________________________ ____________, exclusively, as a private single family dwelling, and no part of the Premises shall be used at any time during the term of this Agreement by Tenant for the purpose of carrying on any business, profession, or trade of any kind, or for any purpose other than as a private single family dwelling. Tenant shall not allow any other person, other than Tenant's immediate family or transient relatives and friends who are guests of Tenant, to use or occupy the Premises without first obtaining Landlord's written consent to such use. "

And this may not be applicable to your situation either:

Quote :

"UTILITIES. Tenant shall be responsible for arranging for and paying for all utility services required on the Premises. "

This is also something you should probably be familiar with: http://www.scstatehouse.gov/code/t27c040.htm

[Edited on February 4, 2010 at 5:24 PM. Reason : ]

2/4/2010 5:17:37 PM

actually I like this one too.

http://www.charlestonrealestateguide.com/residential-rental-agreement.pdf

there's no time commitment, it's gonna be month-to-month. Utilities are included in the rent. thanks so far guys!!

also I forgot to mention this, but my boyfriend will be moving in for 2 months in the summer, when rent will be reduced. (the roommate has agreed to this). what should I do about that in the agreement?

2/4/2010 5:36:46 PM

That is a much more thorough lease agreement (the second one). As far as changing the rent, you can either sign a different lease when he moves in, or just write it out explicitly on this lease. Tenant will pay XXX from Feb-whenever. Tenant will pay XX from whenever-end of summer, at which time rent will return to XXX.

[Edited on February 4, 2010 at 5:42 PM. Reason : ]

2/4/2010 5:41:58 PM

OK cool! there's an empty space on the end for "additional terms" where I could add that.

2/4/2010 5:52:29 PM

Quote :

"also I forgot to mention this, but my boyfriend will be moving in for 2 months in the summer, when rent will be reduced. (the roommate has agreed to this). what should I do about that in the agreement?"

You're exactly right, the "additional terms" section is the proper place to put that in writing.

I'll concur with lease #2, simply because that one was developed by the SCAR, who know their state laws and address their leases to them, whereas the other is a generic legal form (although #28 on form 1 does make an interesting point). Looks like the last time that particular form was revised was in 2002...there may be a more recent revision.

Assuming you use lease #2:
Gzusfrk made a good point about the non applicable parts. Strike through the ones that don't apply or fill in the blanks with N/A. The pet clause, for example. I would strike through everything after the 1st sentence if you do not intend to allow pets.
Gzusfrk made another good point about the utilities: You'll want to state who pays for how much of what.
On that note: You may wish to strike the provision about quiet enjoyment, as you will be living in the dwelling with them. Odds are SC real estate law says somewhere (I'm not an SC agent, I don't feel like looking it up, sorry ) that even if you strike a clause like that, it will still apply, but it is a nod to the fact that the tenant is not leasing the exclusive rights to the property. I would even mention that the property is your primary residence as well in the additional disclosures section.

2/4/2010 8:58:27 PM

Paging theDuke.

2/4/2010 9:02:50 PM

Good advice Jax!

^ yeah I just read his thread and hopefully getting a lease will avoid those troubles

2/5/2010 5:38:38 PM

I'm not saying that a written lease is a bad idea, but I don't think it would've helped in any way in my case.

2/6/2010 4:55:16 PM

^ i agree

You still would have some returned checks and court as your only recourse to collect.

2/7/2010 9:17:21 AM

^^Yeah, it's pretty clear you fucked up when you left for three months and didn't cash any of his checks.

You know how pathetic people are when it comes to money...you talk shit about dumb money management on here all the time, and I still think it's weird you assumed he'd have multiple months' worth of rent in his bank account when you weren't there to hold him accountable.

2/7/2010 9:57:28 AM