Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Currently my girlfriend lives in her parents second home and pays no rent. She got a job and will be moving to another town because the commute is too far. The plan was for me to move in with her but we weren't expecting her to find a job so far away. So the plan is still for me to move into her parents second house. My question is, can I legally live in that house with no rent being a non family member? What steps do they need to take for this to be legal if its not?
If I was the owner of that home, you would be paying rent. They were doing a favor for their daughter. You need to direct your question to her parents. I don't see the reason why you should live there rent free, they aren't your parents. Is there a reason why you can't pay them rent? Since you are her boyfriend, maybe they will give you a break on the rent, unless they plan on renting it out to a tenant.
But to answer your question, yes it would be legal. You can live anywhere you want, if the owner agrees not to charge you rent.
Well we haven't worked out the details but I just wanted to make sure it was legal. They haven't looked into what they can and cannot do so I thought I'd see what I can find out. They tend to put things off for a long time and I am betting that by the time I have to move into the house they still won't have anything figured out on rent. So there may be a period I won't be paying anything and I don't want them to pay any penalties. Her parents have never rented the house out, they used to live in it until they inherited the farm. It just sits empty now and would rather have someone living in it.
I have no knowledge on the subject, so I asked if there were any. I was told that there are rules when it comes to having a non family member live in a second property. Perhaps they were talking about insurance and in that case I would have to have renters insurance...which I already pay for that. I was probably just mislead.
You are legally a tenant after residing in a property for 30 days (most states) whether you have a lease or pay rent, or not. You're still a tenant.
If they collect rent and obviously rent out their 2nd home, it could significantly impact them as far as taxes and a mortgage for 2nd home, if they have one. They would be expected by law to claim the rent as income, take certain steps about the value of the home, etc. Some lenders of mortgages on vacation or "2nd homes" prohibit the owner using it as a rental. They also would have to notify their insurance company that the property is now a rental. Their premium would increase somewhat most likely.
For them, they just need to make sure they're paying the correct taxes with rental income and they will need to talk to their homeowners insurance agent as to what they need for a rental property. Tons of people do this so I'm sure their agent can tell them exactly what they need.
For you I would ask them to sign an official lease. Not only to protect them but also you. What if you break up and she goes crying to mom and dad to kick you out. The lease will protect you from suddenly becoming homeless.
I can't imagine any jurisdiction telling people they can't "rent" a house for low/no rent. The law you may have heard about dealing with non-family members might be one that many jurisdictions have implemented to keep landlords from renting to large numbers of non-related people (5,6,7 or more). Some of this was done to limit certain groups from jamming a house and some were done in college towns to limit student renters in a unit.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
