subletting a bedroom?

I have been renting out one of the apartments in my 3 fam non RC/RS building to my sister (and her husband). It’s been great, we are all happy, they are great tenants. We do not have a contract in place, but maybe it’s better to have one. She, her husband and I talked about it and she is also fine with doing a lease. I know that she has a roommate living with her to help her pay the rent. I did a tenant screening on him and an application and everything. But with this setup, how can we make it official? Would I draw up a lease and name her, her husband and their roommate as the tenants? Is it possible to just name her as my tenant, and then she draws up a sublet agreement or some kind of contract with her roommate? Would she do a sublet agreement renting out one of her bedrooms, stating that the common areas are shared, or what? So far there hasn’t been an issue, but it’s probably easier for her to find roommates if she would be willing to give them something in writing. There have been times when people have walked away because they wanted something in writing and she didn’t have anything. And I have no idea what to tell her. Anyone out there have any input?

mrjane

in Landlord 13 years and 4 months ago

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cupolacoffee | 13 years and 4 months ago

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LOL! Advice from snezan, a real estate agent to do business without a contract! No lease, no roommate agreement equals no terms and conditions. That’s the only thing that’s “simple” about snezan’s and bojbkln’s advice.

shahnandersen

in Landlord 13 years and 4 months ago

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The simplest thing is to provide a lease only to you sister (and/or her husband).  Include in the lease the right to sublet a part of the apartment to one person (if that is what you want) whom you have the right to approve.  The lease should require your sister to be responsible for 100% of the rent.  (Any payment from the roommate is strictly between your sister and that person.

Snezan | 13 years and 4 months ago

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first decide what you mean by in writing: 
I think the idea of giving your sister and her husband a lease is a great idea, you can pay for a standard blumberg 55 lease or pay $7 for a rebny lease (rebny.com). The Rebny gives you more protection but both are fine. 
I would be hesitant to name your sister’s roommate as a leaseholder since you probably don’t want to be responsible for eviction. I also don’t like sublet agreements since they are very murky. So my suggestion would be not to give anything to the roommates in writing. That way people don’t have to de-contract themselves :).

cupolacoffee | 13 years and 4 months ago

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Face the fact that you’re a landlord and formalize the arrangement while everyone’s happy. Best case: all continues happily as is. If things get rocky, a lease will help you or the courts sort things out. If you put your sister’s roommate on the lease, he will be your tenant. If your sister signs a roommate agreement, but the roommate is not on the lease, then he will be your sister’s licensee. IIRC, there was an article about roommates in the NY Times about 6-7 months ago. You can find Blumberg leases online or in your local stationery store. You can also find roommate agreements online. You can always alter the language of a lease or roommate agreement to suit.