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While I'm not particularly familiar with rental laws in Cali, but in NY the landlord has no right to limit the occupants (within reasonable safety limits). I believe the only exception is if you're living in a rent-controlled unit.
The landlord has every right (if specified in the lease) that all tenants are on the lease. If the 5th person is not on the lease, then the landlord has the right to evict.
Quote:
Originally Posted by daytripper
If your lease accomodated a set number of people and you exceed that count, you are in violation of your lease agreement. He has every right to evict you. You are in a sense subletting to the 5th individual. That's a no no.
As far as increasing your rent, The 5th guy needs to be put on the lease and then the rent can be adjusted to whatever. I would not call it extortion but
doesn't smell like a rose either. Whatever he does with his books is really none of your business. He is taking a risk by not declaring all income, but that's his
problem. I suppose you could report him to the IRS but then you really have no way of knowing what he actually is reporting for income. I doubt anything would come of it.
The landlord can't adjust the rent per number of occupants can he? Unless its as another poster stated and the landlord is paying a share or all of the utilities.
Its my understanding that we rent the space from the landlord, and the cost is for the use of that space, regardless on how many people are using it (within reason).
It sounds like he's being unreasonable in not allowing the 5th person to be on the lease, but I'm not sure if he can raise the rent.
If the lease is specific (as are ours) only the individuals named in the lease are to be residents. Any others are in violation of the lease. ( We have this clause in ours for a reason. Can you imagine renting to 2 people and then it becomes a flop house for 10? Alot of Hispanic's here looking for work will move in and all of a sudden there are 10 of them) Landlords have the right to control the amount of wear and tear on their property.
If you pay for the 5th person under the table without amending the lease, the landlord can still evict you any time he wants, as the writen agreement supercedes any oral agreement. Your lease agreement probably has a clause near the end stating it's the whole agreement and cannot be modified except by a writing signed by all parties. Just like you can't have a 5th person outside of the lease, he can't charge more money outside of the lease. In fact, unless the clause limiting the number of tenants to 4 expressly states he can raise the rent or evict you if a 5th person moves in, he can't do either. What he can do is insist the 5th person be put on the lease, or insist he/she move out, depending on the wording of your lease. But 5 people in a 4 bedroom house is not overcrowding and is not in violation of the Uniform Housing Code, which California follows, and therefore is not a valid reason for eviction of the 4 of you on its own. If you have a 1-year lease then without express language stating otherwise, he cannot raise the rent and can only evict you for things like nonpayment of rent or damage to the property. Call your local Fair Housing Authority or Legal Aide or an attorney to look at the lease for you... but if he's just telling you he can evict you all because of the 5th tenant but the language of the lease doesn't say so, then he's just bluffing. Probably the reason he wants the money under the table.... he knows it's illegal to raise your rent on a 1-year written lease.
More people = more wear and tear on the property, and more chances for damage. I don't know in your state if you can charge more rent for more people, but as a landlord, I would charge more deposit for more people.
I didn't think the original poster sounded as if the owner was trying to take the money under the table. Is that actually a direct quote, or is that your interpretation of what he was saying. Unless that is a direct quote, I would guess this is a misunderstanding and that what they were saying is that they didn't want to change the lease to just allow the extra person arbitrarily.
This might not be underhanded at all, but rather just a misunderstanding. If I were the landlord, I would want the 5th tenant to sign the lease as well as having their credit run, and being approved to be there. Otherwise, when the other 4 move out, if the 5th chooses not to, they become a squatter and it can be a real pain to get them out.
If it were my property, here would be the choices I would present you:
1) Kick the 5th person out immediately
2) Everyone move out immediately
3) Jump through the proper hoops to get the 5th person approved and added to the lease correctly and pay extra deposit in anticipation of extra damages. I might also charge more for rent, but not all states allow this.
hcgCali has it right. This is not overcrowding and the landlord should NOT be charging more. Definitely follow hcgCali's advice and talk to the fair housing agency in your city. Generally speaking, the federal law states that at least 2 people per bedroom is the base occupancy (even hotels charge based on double occupancy, it doesn't matter if you're related to that person or not).
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