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Question Title: Married tenants
| Question: 64 |
| I recently was confronted with a situation that I had not encountered before. A husband and wife (both over the age of 18) wished to rent a property from our firm. They insisted that as the wife had never contributed financially to the household, she should not be on the tenancy agreement. They argued that there is no way that she could fulfil the financial obligations in the agreement, nor could she promise to put right any wrongs without the financial support of her husband. She did not want to sign or be a party to an agreement being fully aware that she was unable to fulfil her obligations. What should I do ?
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| Answer: |
| As a general rule, all parties over the age of 18 who are residing in a rented property should appear on and sign the tenancy agreement. There are very few exceptions to this rule; care should even be taken when agreeing to a short-term guest or lodger staying at the property. In this situation, the wife should be treated as a tenant and her name should appear on the tenancy agreement. The same rule applies to boyfriends, girlfriends and same-sex partners. If their position is not regularised by formally joining them in the tenancy, then their undefined legal status can cause problems when possession is required at the end of the tenancy or if the tenant leaves the property leaving the other partner in occupation.
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References:
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Pages:
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Hyperlinks:
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Letting Handbook |
Chapter 9 |
letting-handbook-and-factsheets.html
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For more information, discuss on the Forum
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