When Does a Guest Become a Tenant?

You need to know who you’re renting to; it’s one of the reasons you have your tenants sign a lease agreement. 

What happens when someone shows up in your rental property who isn’t on the lease?

Tenants have guests. It’s understandable if someone is staying in your property for a couple of days or even a week. When they start to stay longer, however, you might become concerned. Has this person ceased to be a visiting guest and someone became a resident? 

Your Washington lease agreement should reference visitors and whether there are limits to how long they may stay. A guest policy is perfectly reasonable, and it should state exactly when a guest becomes a tenant. 

Here is how we approach the matter at SunWorld Group, as professional property managers in Southwest Washington.

Defining a Guest and Defining a Tenant 

A tenant is on your lease agreement. 

A guest is not on your lease agreement. 

That’s the main difference between tenants and guests. When you have a tenant living in your property, that tenant is responsible for paying rent on time and preventing any damage to the home. They’re required to follow the responsibilities and the terms of the lease agreement. You know who they are and how many of them are in your property. 

A guest is not listed on the lease. There is no way for you to gather information or hold a guest accountable to the condition of the property or the payment that’s required to live there. Guests come and go. They do not stay or maintain a fixed address in your property.

Why You Don’t Want Guests to Linger in Your Property

You can’t have a guest to establish residency in your property. You have not properly screened them. They’re not listed on the lease. You could have trouble evicting them if you end up evicting the tenant who is on the lease. 

If that guest is not listed on the lease, you cannot hold them legally accountable for rent payments and other requirements. 

Rental Laws in Washington State

Unlike neighboring states like California, Washington State does not have the “bright line rule,” which automatically makes any guest a tenant after they’ve lived in the home for 20 days. Because there is no such law in Washington, you’ll have to decide how long you’re willing to accommodate a tenant’s guest. Maybe it’s two weeks. Maybe it’s 15 days. Maybe it’s a full month. Write this into the lease agreement and highlight the section when you’re talking to your tenant before they move in. 

Communicating About Guests Who May Feel Like Tenants 

Enforce your lease. When your guest policy has a hard limit, you can talk to your tenant. Send a letter notifying the tenant that they are in violation of the lease agreement. You can suggest that they come into compliance in one of these ways:

• Requiring the tenant’s guest to leave.
• Inviting the tenant to add the guest to the lease agreement after the guest passes a screening.
• Moving forward with eviction proceedings if the tenant does not choose one of the above options.