Whose name should be on the rental agreement?
Renting a property involves a fair bit of paperwork. There’s application forms to fill in, rental agreements to sign and documentation to provide.
But when it comes to those applications and the rental agreement, whose names should be provided? Is it just yours, all your intended housemates, or just the people who will be responsible for paying the rent?
Well, there’s a couple of issues worth considering here, so let’s take a look at whose name should be on the rental agreement.
The rental responsibility
The parties named as rental occupiers in the rental agreement are legally responsible for looking after the property and paying the rent.
They also contribute to the rental bond. During the application process, each of these people will be background checked to ensure they can afford the rent and are a suitable candidate for keeping the property well-maintained and in good repair.
Meanwhile, every person who permanently resides at a property should be included in the rental agreement, even if they are not listed as the official renters, and this can occur in a couple of ways.
Renter versus approved occupant
Although it can differ from state to state, as a rule of thumb, there are two ways that people can feature on a rental agreement: renter or approved occupant.
So what’s the difference between the two? Well, as mentioned above, the renter is responsible for upholding the responsibilities of the rental agreement.
Meanwhile, as the name suggests, the approved occupier has the right to reside at the property.
Unlike the renter, they may not be required to go through such a stringent application process, but are listed on the rental agreement so the property owner knows who is residing at their home and how many people are living there.
Some examples
Say you have a family of five, including two adult parents and three children. The parents will both be named on the rental agreement as the renters, while the three children will be named as approved occupiers.
But what about the case of share house living?
Well, that’s where things get interesting. If your flatmates are contributing to the rent for the property and would reasonably be expected to help look after it and keep it clean, they should be on the rental agreement as renters.
This is especially the case in a rental market where rent prices are high and the likelihood is more than one person’s income will be needed to service the rent.
This person can then be removed from the rental agreement should they leave and they can apply to have their portion of the bond refunded.
If another person then moves in to take over their responsibilities as a co-renter, they should then also go through the rental approval process to ensure they can meet their obligations.
Alternatively, you can have flatmates listed on the rental agreement as approved occupiers. But just bear in mind, this leaves you and any other co-renters solely responsible for meeting the terms of the rental agreement.
When should I add someone to a rental agreement
Although this can vary from state to state, if someone is permanently residing at the rental property for more than two weeks, they should be named on the rental agreement, either as a renter or approved occupier.
To do this, contact your property manager to see which category would suit best and how you can go about having them added to the rental agreement.
How we can help
Our experienced property managers pride themselves on establishing great relationships with both rental occupiers and owners.
We manage every property as if it were our own and you can learn more about our property management services here.
Alternatively, if you are looking to rent a property, you can view the properties we currently have available here.
