Q: Whose name should the lease go in ?
A mother of a grown middle aged son with a wife and three children called on a rental of mine in WA state. She explained that he just lost his home to foreclosure and thinking nobody would rent to him she wanted to cosign and said that also the wifes parents would co-sign (they all are retired and own homes.
I asked why the foreclosure and she said it was a failed contracting deal with the government and that they owe him a considerable amount of money (which may or may not be true). My concern is he has not filed a bankruptcy and if he did that would make it much more difficult for me to evict if he was on the lease. Would I be wiser to rent the homes to both sets of inlaws and list him as the only people permitted to live there if I did decide to rent to them?
A: You should probably ask this question in > Justia > Ask a Lawyer > Washington. This is because, while many Florida lawyers, myself included, are familiar with bankruptcy law, the question also involves a question of state eviction law: I expect that in Washington you would have to sue the occupant (the son in this case) to evict him, even if he were no on the lease as a "tenant". Thus, if he were to file for bankruptcy protection, you would probably have to seek relief from the automatic stay in order to evict him.
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