Can a landlord legally limit the number of people on lease (DC)?

[Anonymous]

Yes you can.

We include the limit in our Tenant Selection Criteria.

[Anonymous]

Well the city of Alexandria allows as many as you can stuff in and never enforces over crowding.

[Anonymous]

There is a max limit of 2 people (unrelated) per bedroom.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You do NOT want three people on the lease. If one person doesn't pay, can you kick out the other two?

When I considered it, I insisted one person (or actually the parent) sign the lease and take responsibility for sending me the check. Then the other people would have to send them their portion.

Fortunately, I was always able to find another tenant option.

So if you go to evict, don't you essentially have 3 squatters with lots of rights in DC? That sounds like terrible advice.

[Anonymous]

Are people confusing "number of people on a lease" and "number of people living in the home"?

[Anonymous]

Living in a one bedroom with my wife and child. We just had another child and we're looking for a two bedroom, but haven't found one we like and can afford. Our landlord is not happy with us. Can a landlord evict us for being in a 1-br with the 4 of us (including a newborn)? They state that there is a max 3 people per 1-br and said that we are out of compliance.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You do NOT want three people on the lease. If one person doesn't pay, can you kick out the other two?

When I considered it, I insisted one person (or actually the parent) sign the lease and take responsibility for sending me the check. Then the other people would have to send them their portion.

Fortunately, I was always able to find another tenant option.

This is really dumb advice. You want all names on the lease so they have "joint and several" liability. Plus, it's much easier to evict with all names on the lease.

With joint and several liability, all parties are responsible for paying the rent each month. So, if one person suddenly moves out, the other two tenants are still responsible for paying the entire rent amount. This protects you.

I’m a real estate attorney. The responding poster here is correct. The poster they responded to provided really really dumb advice. Close to the worst landlord tenant advice I’ve ever heard in 20+ years of practice.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Three unrelated people are not family.

That is the discrimination. You are discriminating against them on the basis of their familial relationship to each other.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC has limits, based on the bedroom size. Generally, each bedroom must have minimum of 70 square feet if to be used by one occupant. If multiple people are sharing the bedroom, it must have minimum of 50 sq feet per person (so 100 sq foot bedroom for two people in a single bedroom). And, interesting enough, this is not done through the Rental code, but rather through the DC Human Rights code.

That said, you CAN impose limits on how many ADULTS use the unit. You just can't discriminate against families with children. It's a bit of a grey area. I have a 2BR English basement rental and my rental ad on CL/Zillow/Hot Pads clearly stated that the apartment is for a max of 2 adults. The lease my tenants signed clearly states that they are the only adults allowed to live in the unit, but any kids they have or adopt after signing the lease are allowed to live there. This gets around any claims of discrimination.

This. You can absolutely state no more than x adults, you just can't get into no kids, no more than x kids, etc.

So then what happens (not in OP's situation, but just in general) if there are two adults and a 17 year old child, and that child turns 18. The parents immediately have to kick their kid out (even if still in high school?) or find another place to live?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three unrelated people are not family.

That is the discrimination. You are discriminating against them on the basis of their familial relationship to each other.

Is that covered by equal housing law?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:DC has limits, based on the bedroom size. Generally, each bedroom must have minimum of 70 square feet if to be used by one occupant. If multiple people are sharing the bedroom, it must have minimum of 50 sq feet per person (so 100 sq foot bedroom for two people in a single bedroom). And, interesting enough, this is not done through the Rental code, but rather through the DC Human Rights code.

That said, you CAN impose limits on how many ADULTS use the unit. You just can't discriminate against families with children. It's a bit of a grey area. I have a 2BR English basement rental and my rental ad on CL/Zillow/Hot Pads clearly stated that the apartment is for a max of 2 adults. The lease my tenants signed clearly states that they are the only adults allowed to live in the unit, but any kids they have or adopt after signing the lease are allowed to live there. This gets around any claims of discrimination.

This. You can absolutely state no more than x adults, you just can't get into no kids, no more than x kids, etc.

So then what happens (not in OP's situation, but just in general) if there are two adults and a 17 year old child, and that child turns 18. The parents immediately have to kick their kid out (even if still in high school?) or find another place to live?

If you live on the edge, you'll cross it eventually.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 1br 1ba in DC. I’m currently adopting my niece and nephew (nephew is an infant) and was wonder can a landlord deny them from living with me

No, but you may run into issues with the social worker about the number of bedrooms. We had a two bedroom and my DD when we had to take in then-13 year old male relative of DH.

Can a landlord require an approval first?

I don't want to move a family into an apartment and then have the government kick the out immediately.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have a 1br 1ba in DC. I’m currently adopting my niece and nephew (nephew is an infant) and was wonder can a landlord deny them from living with me

No, but you may run into issues with the social worker about the number of bedrooms. We had a two bedroom and my DD when we had to take in then-13 year old male relative of DH.

Can a landlord require an approval first?

I don't want to move a family into an apartment and then have the government kick the out immediately.

Evictions are nearly impossible in DC and takes years even when justified

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I own a 2 bedroom rental unit in DC. We are curr looking for tenants and have been contacted by a group of three recent college grads who would like to share the place. I would rather not have three people living there -- or three people on the lease. Can I legally refuse them based on the fact that there are three of them?

My company owners 80+ properties in the DC area. First, you are not required to give applicants a reason they were denied. Second, there is a limit to how many people can live in a Premise. For instance, two adults per room is the max (same for children, etc). Aside from that as a Landlord you have very right to lease your property to whomever you wish. My company does not lease to roommates. We stopped the practice eight years ago. Roommates tend to have more issues and they are not worth the time or hassle.

+1 OP, take control of your property and lease to whoever you feel will be the best tenant. Not that it's really relevant, but I believe you are allowed to discriminate if you own less than 3 properties. You also can't run your property based solely on the law. That's not how life works. My brother is a lawyer and it's a zhit show watching him manage his properties via the law/contract.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Three unrelated people are not family.

That is the discrimination. You are discriminating against them on the basis of their familial relationship to each other.

Is that covered by equal housing law?

In dc, yes. In some other places, yes. I don’t know where you live.