WRITING OUT CHECK TO LANDlORD VS. WRITING OUT CHECK TO HOUSEMATE
One benefit of being the one that pays the landlord is that if one of the roommates doesn't pay you'll know right away rather than finding out when you get the notice to show up to court for being behind on rent.
I just responded to you via email 
I'm curious: What is the reason the young adults who desire to live independently can't take over the responsibility for paying the rent themselves?
Kids use Venmo and are clueless as to how to even fill out a check.
Check if the landlord would consider an EFT, PayPal deposit or some other electronic payment options.
j_r said:
I just responded to you via email
I'm curious: What is the reason the young adults who desire to live independently can't take over the responsibility for paying the rent themselves?
This stuff tends to be driven by credit score ... If you're a landlord, who do you want on the hook? A couple of established parents or young adults ...
I take your point about creditworthiness, @Soul_29, and you may be right that the landlord (who clearly is savvy about the perils of renting to students) is asking for an established adult's signature. But a parent running interference between him and the four roommates should tread cautiously, IMO. Who covers the rent if someone on the lease must leave suddenly before the lease ends (illness or medical emergency, roommate discord, academic failure, international travel, family problems, change in relationship status, etc.)? And what happens if a payment is late or missed?
Soul_29 said:
j_r said:
I just responded to you via email
I'm curious: What is the reason the young adults who desire to live independently can't take over the responsibility for paying the rent themselves?
This stuff tends to be driven by credit score ... If you're a landlord, who do you want on the hook? A couple of established parents or young adults ...
The parents are typically the guarantors, not the primary lessees.
@cubby Can they ask for individual-liability leases? Otherwise each one is responsible if one of them violates the lease. Read this:
http://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/free-books/renters-rights-book/chapter6-2.html
j_r said:
I just responded to you via email
I'm curious: What is the reason the young adults who desire to live independently can't take over the responsibility for paying the rent themselves?
None of these kids have checking accounts (in fact, i very rarely write out checks). Yes, they all use Venmo. I can certainly have my daughter open a checking account as one option.
The minute our son was 18 we made him get a student checking account and two credit cards. Its to make him responsible for paying his bills and establishing good credit. A checking account is not just for writing checks. Its for paying bills and having fast access to cash.
The result is his November credit rating is 838 out of 850 (varies month by month from 826 to 845) according to his Discover statement. One his credit card lines was popped to 36,100.
But it took a few years.
Anybody two years or less from living independently needs to understand how to manage a rent payment, and how to navigate if roommates fall through.
You do still need to learn how to manage a checking account in this world today. Checks are sometimes needed and it is also a way to learn to manage your finances.
Whose name is on the lease? Does the lease say that only one check can be used to pay the rent?
Do you know the other parents? Even if the parents signed a lease, it can still be one of the students writing the check.
If I'm a LL, I'm holding all the tenants jointly and severally liable. How they come up with the rent is up to them I just want ONE check/eft/quickpay etc on time. If it was my kid, I'd let the girls elect their own designated team leader (for lack of better word). The others send the pmts to her via venmo/quickpay/cashapp etc, then she pays the LL. This person can also be their spokesperson for future correspondence with LL. It keeps things seamless trust me. The advantage of letting them work it out themselves is it gives them a chance to manage their own lives, including late rent/utilities and it's resulting conflict of which there will be many opportunities. I think this is a good first lesson to learn first time away from home. The disadvantage of your direct involvement is if a roommate is behind in rent, it suddenly becomes your problem to get them caught up. I see no upside. If your kid has her share of the rent/bills on time, I'd stay out of it, let them sort it out. HTH.
cubby said:
Daughter about to sign a one year lease for June '17-June "18 with 3 other students for off campus house. Landlord is asking for one check per month. So, one student collects from housemates and submits one check to landlord. I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to be the parent writing out the check. The downside is obvious (possibly waiting for housemates to pay daughter), but are their benefits?
Teach them the responsibility of having and using a DDA. They all signed the lease. Tell them to rotate the check payments.
ElizMcCord said:
If I'm a LL, I'm holding all the tenants jointly and severally liable. How they come up with the rent is up to them I just want ONE check/eft/quickpay etc on time.
I'm a co-landlord, I don't care how many checks are written so long as it isn't something stupid, like 100 checks each written out for $10. We have one tenant who pays 3/4 of the rent on the first, and the last 1/4 of it on the 15th, but she is NEVER over 30 days, takes good care of her apartment, and is a pleasure to deal with, so getting the rent in two payments over the month instead of all on the first is fine with us. A lot more goes into a good tenant than how they pay and if they have the rent paid on the first.
yahooyahoo said:
Whose name is on the lease? Does the lease say that only one check can be used to pay the rent?
All 4 housemates will sign lease. Rent is to be paid with only one check. I think on housemate will write out the rent check or they will rotate.
Cubby, That is not a bad idea and hopefully all four will like living together and have their share every month. Be forewarned that things don't always work out, especially when there are four people involved.
And what ElizMcCord posted makes sense to me.
If all of them are listed on the lease, but only one pays the rent, are all of the tenants supposed to get equal impact (good or bad) on their credit rating for the payment history?
My daughter and a roommate shared an apartment for over two years, and the roommate paid the rent checks. My daughter paid her share to the roommate. At some point when she needed a credit check for a loan, she had NO credit history, so I had to co-sign for her. I thought that paying rent on time for that length of time ought to have counted for something.
If possible, I think that the best bet would be to renegotiate with the landlord for each tenant to pay their share of the rent separately with their own check (or other acceptable method of payment.)
sac said:
If all of them are listed on the lease, but only one pays the rent, are all of the tenants supposed to get equal impact (good or bad) on their credit rating for the payment history?
My daughter and a roommate shared an apartment for over two years, and the roommate paid the rent checks. My daughter paid her share to the roommate. At some point when she needed a credit check for a loan, she had NO credit history, so I had to co-sign for her. I thought that paying rent on time for that length of time ought to have counted for something.
If possible, I think that the best bet would be to renegotiate with the landlord for each tenant to pay their share of the rent separately with their own check (or other acceptable method of payment.)
Sac, I'm not sure if paying rent gets reported to credit bureaus. I'm a landlord with good tenants, and I can't figure out how to report timely payments without having to pay a big fee to the agencies. If you know how I can do it, let me know.
I'm also a landlord. I have no idea how to report a tenant's payment history, good or bad, to anyone. I do get asked to provide a landlord reference occasionally.
I think large-scale landlords (apartment buildings) subscribe to a service for viewing and reporting rental history, but it's separate from credit reporting.
I once allowed two roommates to pay separately but ended up regretting it. They were well-intentioned but flaky, so I spent too much time sending each one friendly reminders and arranging for pickup of checks that weren't quite there yet. Also, if one pays but not the other(s), when do you start eviction proceedings? It would seem to complicate legal issues.
kthnry said:
I'm also a landlord. I have no idea how to report a tenant's payment history, good or bad, to anyone. I do get asked to provide a landlord reference occasionally.
I think large-scale landlords (apartment buildings) subscribe to a service for viewing and reporting rental history, but it's separate from credit reporting.
I once allowed two roommates to pay separately but ended up regretting it. They were well-intentioned but flaky, so I spent too much time sending each one friendly reminders and arranging for pickup of checks that weren't quite there yet. Also, if one pays but not the other(s), when do you start eviction proceedings? It would seem to complicate legal issues.
Start eviction proceedings when they are over 30 days late. They want to pay with multiple check, fine, but the rent is due when it is due, regardless of how many checkbooks it comes out of. This happened to a friend of mine, he paid his portion on time each month, his roommate didn't, they both got an eviction notice.
I would never allow multiple checks. one check, one late fee, one eviction notice. I had roommates myself when I was young, and we had to learn to handle our business ourselves.
FilmCarp said:
I would never allow multiple checks. one check, one late fee, one eviction notice. I had roommates myself when I was young, and we had to learn to handle our business ourselves.
When we had the tenants from hell and they had five adults and four kids squeezed illegally into a two bedroom apartment that we had rented to the one guy with his two kids (he had moved in his ex, his ex's new husband, ex's two other kids, and two other random people) we only had to do one eviction. The situation as a whole sucked because the tenants had not been properly vetted, but evicting them was pretty straightforward, we didn't need to prove who did or did not pay rent, just that the rent itself was not paid and that is all the court cares about.
depending on the state laws on boarding homes, it might have to do with the law. In NJ, in order to be considered a "family unit", the LL can only accept one check. Gets discussed in S. Orange all the time due to students from SHU renting homes.
They're adults. Let them deal with it, even if it means making mistakes whose consequences they suffer. Now is the best time for these lessons. The less you do, the better it is for your daughter and everyone else. Let them fly.
mikescott said:
depending on the state laws on boarding homes, it might have to do with the law. In NJ, in order to be considered a "family unit", the LL can only accept one check. Gets discussed in S. Orange all the time due to students from SHU renting homes.
That is exactly it. The payment to the landlord/property owner has to be from one person, this allows all the people in the house to live as a "family".
This isn't the stupidest thing I have ever heard, but it is certainly up there. Four unrelated adults living in a house is fine if they pay with one check, but those same four adults in the same house suddenly become boarders and are illegal if they write a second check.
ace789nj said:
mikescott said:
depending on the state laws on boarding homes, it might have to do with the law. In NJ, in order to be considered a "family unit", the LL can only accept one check. Gets discussed in S. Orange all the time due to students from SHU renting homes.
That is exactly it. The payment to the landlord/property owner has to be from one person, this allows all the people in the house to live as a "family".
Daughter about to sign a one year lease for June '17-June "18 with 3 other students for off campus house. Landlord is asking for one check per month. So, one student collects from housemates and submits one check to landlord. I'm trying to decide whether or not I want to be the parent writing out the check. The downside is obvious (possibly waiting for housemates to pay daughter), but are their benefits?