Re: Living with tenants - Landlord Forum thread 322132

Re: Living with tenants by Been There, Done That on July 31, 2014 @22:57

Anonymous makes some very good points. Over the years, I had six roommates I can recall (may have been more, but I can remember six of them). Three of the six were friends before they moved in. One of the three friends was the drug dealer. We were friends in High School. I went off the the military after high school and he went to college. Five years later, I got out of the military and went to college. Placed a listing with the campus housing office and, lo and behold, he applied (and didn't know it was me because my last name had changed). I thought I was lucky to be renting to an old friend!

Little did I know that in the five years since High School, he had changed. I came home from work unexpectedly one Saturday and found my kitchen table heaped more than six inches deep in cannabis. He and his girlfriend were dealing. I freaked since (1) I could have lost my top secret government security clearance and (2) I could have lost custody of my son. I gave them verbal notice to clear themselves and their drugs out immediately or I would call the sheriff's office. They believed I would do it and they cleared out in less than an hour. They stuck me with a $400 long distance phone bill (this was in the pre-cell phone days) and I had to pay it or lose phone service because it was in my name.

We had house rules and they stated NO DRUG USE. But house rules are only as good as the character of the individual who agrees to them.

The other two friends I rented to--one was absolutely never a problem and a delight to live with. The other one was mostly OK except for having a habit of bringing home men to spend the night unannounced a couple of times a month. It's never a comfortable thing to find a strange man you have never seen before running around in your home in a bathrobe on a Saturday or Sunday morning. She eventually found a guy to be steady with and it got a little easier because the rest of us got to know him and got comfortable with him hanging around.

Of the three strangers: one was mostly OK; one was a disrespectful PITA young guy that liked to argue with me for the sake of arguing and stole one of my favorite books when he moved out; and the other one was the young woman who would run off unannounced and leave her child for me to watch.

So my score was 3/3. Three decent roommates; three problem roommates...one the worst problem roommates was one I had known the longest.

Get those house rules in writing, but more important, try to be sure before they move in that the person is one who will abide by the house rules.

The state laws of WV are silent about whether or not you'd be considered a landlord in the circumstances but if you are in an urban area like Charleston, Huntington, Morgantown, Parkersburg, Clarksburg, Martinsburg, Wheeling, etc., you might want to check your local housing laws. In the college towns like Morgantown and Huntington you may find there are additional rules governing renting out rooms in your home.

For sure you should be paying income tax on the rental income. You don't want to mess with the IRS. A disgruntled roommate (or just a person who knows you aren't claiming the income) can turn you in and collect a bonus. This is a quote straight off the IRS website:

"The IRS Whistleblower Office pays money to people who blow the whistle on persons who fail to pay the tax that they owe. If the IRS uses information provided by the whistleblower, it can award the whistleblower up to 30 percent of the additional tax, penalty and other amounts it collects."

Makes it tempting for someone who has something against you to retaliate and enrich themselves at the same time. Best of luck if you decide to go forward with renting out another room. I hope it works out for you. It's great when it does but it can be hell when it doesn't. One tends to think of one's home as a sanctuary. When roommate problems arise it can be extremely stressful and you can be left with no escape from the problem.

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