Need advice on renting out a room to a stranger. ( Archived) (38)

Be very very careful... especially of the woman that called you. While she might have good intentions you will end up in the middle of the argument between her her and her fiance' whether you want to be or not. Be especially careful as he is into the drugs and such... never a good mix! Please be careful about who you choose, if you decide to go that route.

I appreciate all of your inputs, and will consider them all.
I will wait until I meet her face to face before I make a decision.
I am pretty good at reading people.
With my last job, I was never wrong concerning whether someone was using or not. Been there done that, so I can smell it a mile away..

It never did work out before, when I let someone move in, but it was always my exes so called friends.

I am willing to help someone if needed, but I can also be assertive.

I have a legal lease agreement from my state. I rented out my moms trailer for over a year. Things were good till near the end.
My contract was very specific and I took them to court
Cute.. I was on Judge Joe Brown last month.. and I won!

If I decide to do this, I will have it on the agreement, that the fiance is not to be near my property..

I am aware that she might go back to him, that is why I will ask for a deposit..

It could be the chance she needs to get on with her life. I needed that at one time in my life...

well, sounds like you already had it set, lol.

wish ya luck!

We all know what happened lately on this site with the sad story scammer. Be cautious that you are not falling into one your self.

Opening your home is a big thing. If you are stable then your going to want the renter to be stable also! It sounds like you are opening your door to a lot of drama! Are you sure you can handle that?

Buy a safe! Put all your jewelry and important papers in it. It will be a small price to pay to keep whats yours safe.

Have your renter get you a back ground check from the police dept.
It should only cost a few bucks. Take a picture of the new renter when they move in. For any future problems. Get a copy of a state i.d. or drivers license.

In a situation like this I never trust my gut! I think I can save everyone, even though I can't!

Best of luck, and be peaceful.

I wouldn't rent to a stranger. A buddy of mine did a few month's back and it turned out really bad. To make a long story short, he let a girl move in with him and she had 5 of her male cousin's come over one night and my buddy ended up getting stabbed with a screw driver 13 time's. True story! He lived, but he didn't know this girl from a hole in the ground.

I would not rent out to her....She may not leave the situation completely and you will be stuck with drama or worse. Your compassion is truely heartwarming...but I don't think you should run the risk..of that type of situation..there are shelters for people like her that need to get out or on their feet.

I dont know the landlord tenant laws there but I would check it out and get it all in writing. If you are wanting to counsel or help out and have the knowledge for that then it is one thing. You can become part of a very dangerous drama if not,,,might be good to see what else comes your way.

“Her fiance is using drugs, never coming home, and spending all of the money. She wants to get out.”
Due to past experience, I would say no because of this alone. Most druggies are EXCELLENT liars. No PROOF she isn’t one of them and scamming you. Yeah, was stupid enough to rent a few times. Others were worse, but once it was something like this. She said she wanted away from him. He kept coming around. Next thing you know, the drama moved in too. Nope, didn’t extend that lease, gave her the boot. At this time I have a couple of rooms I could rent, but don’t know if I would dare again.

I also completely agree that you NEED the paperwork, and I would suggest that in any iffy situation you make it month to month, with initial occupancy requirements being that they pay first and last, along with damage and utility deposits. Otherwise you could end up paying a lot of jacked up bills after they leave. You would also have to put it in writing that this ex is excluded from the property. You can also include limits on guests. Such as that they can only have a certain amount, for a certain time. E.g. any guest that stays more than 3 nights in any one month is a violation of occupancy, as they have technically exceeded the occupancy listed in the lease.

As far as background checks etc are concerned, sure, worth a try, but information can be falsified, and the methods are getting very good, thanks to all the illegal immigrants working so hard at it.

My mother once had a renter in her daylight basement apartment that had her so scared she called asking me which end of the glass you turn to the floor to try to listen LOL That was enough for me to ask a few questions. Yeah, they were dealing drugs down there etc. Yeah, I just moved onto the property and was my endearing sweet self (insert evil laugh here), and they decided to move. No, didn’t threaten anyone or anything, just made the place suddenly so full of traffic that they didn’t have the seclusion for their illegal activities any more. After that, I drafted her a 5 page rental agreement that had her covered for any and everything. NOBODY messes with my mommy.