If an apartment complex finds out you have someone living with you what happens?

Yeah. They will kick you out. Normally you have to inform them if people stay for longer than two weeks.

And do you really want to live with people that can’t pass a background check?

my thoughts exactly. why would you want to move in with two guys that are criminals? i know that’s beside the point but…..

keep in mind if you go through the moving expense and the apt has your security, you will be losing the security and you’ll be moving again, more money out the door. the management will definitely find out people are living there, seeing these other people coming and going.. think twice before doing this foolish move.

In my experience (and I have been in this position), they couldn’t give a rats ass as long as they get their rent.

Are you telling me this bloke can’t pass a background check? Color me unsurprised.

They probably won’t care that much if they are a flat rent place if they get the rent on time every month. If they usually charge more for more people living there or the apartment is not big enough to legally house that many people, then they have every legal right to kick your butt to the curb.

Personally, I think JohnPowell has it exactly right—they can and will kick you out and do you really want to live with folks who can’t pass the test?

With out old apartment, it actual specified you had to inform the landlord of anyone staying more than 30 days, then they had to be added to the lease. We didn’t add my husband right away, because of his terrible credit. So, then we informed our landlord and she didn’t care..and didn’t raise our rent (our lease also said it’d go up by like $25 for another person).

http://www.fluther.com/disc/45701/do-you-think-he-will-go-to-jail-or-ord/

@dalepetrie That is how it is here in the apartments where we are in now, and to the other guys, the reason is one is my fiance, and he went pee behind a bar, read previois questions by me to get that story, and the other is my dad.

@casheroo Credit is different, that can be overcome, and I don’t know how they would be because I am sure everyone is different at every apartment complex

@EmpressPixie Yes I would seeing as they are my family and most important people in my life.

i don’t think that it will go over well when they find out he is a registered sex offender (for whatever reason that he is, he still is). do you know for a fact that is why he is a registered sex offender? this seems awfully punitive to make someone a registered sex offender for peeing behind a bar. i have known people with criminal records who had their own explanations, and then when i checked with the district attorney (a friend works there- that’s how i get to check) i find out the truth is way different then the story i had been given.

@jca: Indecent exposure (public urination counts) will definitely make you register as a sex offender.

Lay off, John

@jca Yes because when he got out of jail I saw his paperwork, also his name doesn’t come up on the sites at all, and I have known of a few people who this happened to.

If you are determined to live with these folks then, seeing as they have criminal backgrounds and this is why you cannot move them in normally to begin with, I would not risk it. It’s a toss up to if the landlords would care, but if they do care it will be much worse if they find out about a criminal history.

It is a violation of the patriot act, hence illegal to hide the fact they are there,. Everyone over 18 MUST be a signer on the lease.

If you are found out, you can be evicted, and arrested, along with them. (failure of a sex offender, to register their correct address is a felony. Concealing the Identity or address of a sex offender is also a felony)

Explain the facts to the landlord, they will be a lot more understanding if you do not try to deceive them.

@Ivan :: I was adding context. A registered sex offender is a lot different from a guy who got a bunch of speeding tickets.

The last place we applied for we did explain it and they said ok you will be fine and ran our checks and then told my fiance he couldn’t move in even after we had told her everything, so they just got our money and lied to us and we left.

My fiance registered his address here and stuff, but I am not talking about him not registering at all. @DrBill Can you show me to the link of how I would be arrested instead of just kicked out?

It will all depend on who you rent from and the contents of lease or rental agreement. Some places are lenient and just want their rent, especially in a bad economy. Perhaps you can find a landlord that just has a smaller building and not one of those management companies that will take your money for credit checks and rip you off.

@justus2: Most places, if they take your security deposit, they have to give it back if they don’t let you live there. You may need to get in touch with a renter’s rights group about that.

@EmpressPixie I am not worried about that

if drbill doesn’t give you a link, you could google the patriot act or patriot act sex offenders. i agree that sex offender status is more serious than being a criminal for something minor – even if he got the sex offender status from something we consider minor like peeing behind a bar, it’s still sex offender status and many people don’t take that lightly. you may have some militant moms protesting or notifying the management. they may have to return security deposit but not money for credit check, which could be $25 or $50.

i would say the bottom line is living with someone who is a sex offender will bring you a lot of headaches. this does not even include the hardship he’ll have getting a good job. you may be supporting this person sometimes, and you should think seriously if this is a position you want to be in.

i don’t think they’d have to return security deposit if you broke the lease, which this would be breaking the lease – having people live there who are not supposed to.

@jca I don’t care about getting the money returned, and about the job part we both have good jobs, and our manager knows about him and doesn’t care, she says she knows he is a good person.

Have you signed a lease yet?

ok. well think hard about the situation in general. as far as living in an apt without this person being on the lease, google patriot act, or get more info first, and if you are determined to do it regardless of others’ opinions than good luck and post an update to let us know how it turns out .

no. I dont think the apartments we are in now ever ran a criminal check but im not sure, but when we moved here we planned on just not saying anything about them, and they arent on the lease, but I want to move for a few different reasons but was just wondering how much trouble I would get in if it was found out

I didn’t sign a lease at the new ones at all, just called and they said all the stuff about application fees and stuff. I really like the way they look and sound online

I once had a lease on a house in my name only, which meant I was solely responsible for the rent, and the lease stated right in it that I would have two other people living with me, one housekeeper, and one babysitter. They were not expected to help out with the rent, but were listed so I wouldn’t get in trouble with the landlord.

You tell them they stopped by for the night and to leave you alone?

@YARNLADY that isn’t how it works with apartments, unfortunately they all do both criminal and credit background checks, credit i have no problem with because that can be overcome and stuff, but I think it is ridicilous to take something someone does and ruin so much of their life because of it.

@NaturalMineralWater that would be my plan but if like one of the neighbors was a snitch or something and told them and they were rude about it what would they do to me is what I was asking.

@justus2 You’re right.. there are an awful lot of snitches around.

Might give you the alternative to make them go before they kick you out! Or to put them on the lease. Otherwise, yes they will give you the boot!

@justus2 Are you sure they do a check on every resident, even if they aren’t responsible for paying the rent? I don’t see how that could be with any other random people living there, as long as you list them as “non-responsible” residents. You would be solely responsible for the rent, and only you would have the background check.

@YARNLADY I live in a place where the landlord thinks he’s God! He has kicked many out for that very reason!

@ShanEnri I can see not allowing them without permission, but isn’t it just like having children living there who are not on the lease as renters, but just residents?

@YARNLADY Not to my landlord! He doesn’t do any kind of background check, but he expects everyone to be on the lease that is going to stay for 3 nights or more in 1 month. It’s why he kicked my niece out. Her boyfriend was staying overnight with her, not every night either, and he kicked her out. His a grumpy, old, mean man. We call him the “one armed bandit” he only has one arm He charges us extra water a month. On top of what we already pay in the rent! Some landlords take the lord part of their name to seriously!

The part of this that stands out to me is that you want 2 guys with criminal histories to move in with you.

The reason apartments conduct background checks on their residents is because they want to make sure their residents are safe. If their past crimes are something they have to register for, and you move them in on the sly, you would be committing a criminal act yourself.

@The Compassionate Heretic well I wasn’t asking about why they do it or to make comments about my family, I was asking what would usually happen. Just because you have a background, doesn’t mean you are a danger to anyone.

Yes they will kick you out. That’s standard procedure for the reasons stated above.
Read closely as I was making no judgments for or against your lifestyle.

A lot of it depends on the rental market in your area…as with everything, follow the money for the answer. I lived in an apartment and for people who paid their rent on time, they woudl do just about ANYTHING to keep you. If you’re in a rental market where all their units are full and there’s a waiting list, they will bounce you if you cause them any potential problems. If they have empty apartments and you pay your rent on time, chances are they will look the other way. Now the Patriot Act may complicate things for sure, obviously if you’re doing something that could COST them money and they find out about it, they might not be happy. And yes, if you get caught, you could be seen as concealing a criminal act…it could be bad. But under more “normal” circumstances, i wouldn’t sweat it. I’d say you’re taking a risk if you do it, but the way t assess the risk is to figure out how nosy are the landlords…are they they types of people who are in everyone’s business?

There are Mr. Ropers out there still. Where I lived, there was some bigwig, Mark Fillister, who owned Fillister Enterprises. He didn’t have anything to do with the day to day operations of his building, he just hired people who lived in the building and paid them with free rent. I moved in with my girlfriend and her best friend, and when the new lease was up, I asked to be added to it. I also asked to put a “buy or build” clause in because we wanted to buy a house. They did it, but basically put in all these caveats so that we had to wait for 3 months before we invoked it…at 3 months and one day we tried to, and were told that we were one day into the 3 “slow moving months”, where they don’t allow anyone to move out. I was told by a lawyer that the contract was usurous and wasn’t laid out for me, but that courts always side with the landlord.

Basically, if they want to make trouble for you, they will, but if they have empty apartments, and aren’t “family owned” but are owned by some arms length investor, they aren’t going to look for trouble. Now that’s not to say that this couldn’t come out. It’s a risk…you’re rising financial AND criminal liability…and as you know first hand, the courts are hardly about “justice” these days.

Personnaly if I found out about these people living there I would decide bases on their behavior and how I found out, for example if I found out because the who building was complaining about theft from cars and I caught your roommate, you would be out of there! If I saw them taking out trash and they were decent behaving I wouldn’t care.

In the rental market in our area, the landlords are so desparate for renters, they are practically paying you to move in, with the 6th month free.

The Patriot Act requires all landlords to keep records of all tenants over 18 years of age, AND proof they are US citizens OR that they are in the country legally.

If you allow anyone to live with you or “visit” longer than 10 days per year, without permission of the property owner, you are in violation of the patriot act and subject to arrest.

Harboring a sex offender is also illegal.

p.s. I am a landlord

@DrBill Ok, what are the chances that if I go directly to the landlord and talk to him and get a letter from our district manager about how good of people they are and my dad gets a letter from his community service and we run our own checks here and take in all the information we can that we can get past it?
Also I am not harboring a sex offender, he registers everywhere he goes

@dalepetrie Well the one I want to go and look at I am not sure who it is owned by but I know it isn’t a private family, I think it is one of those management corporations or something, they do a $45 app fee.

@justus2

With all due respect, if the landlord does not know he is there, it is harboring… even if he is registered.

@DrBill Can you answer my last question seeing as you are a landlord?

i think the nature of their status (sex offender despite what they actually did) will subject you and them to scrutiny and more people objecting to their presence than if the crime was something simpler. whatever they did to become sex offenders, people just don’t like that term and don’t appreciate their living in their neighborhood. if they register, don’t you think that would get back to the landlord somehow that this person is living in their complex – in addition to being on the internet – there are sites where there are maps where you put in your zip and it shows all the sex offenders and where they live – you don’t think the neighbors (especially with children) know about these things? as they say here in NYC, fuggedaboutit.

In California, they have taken it out of the hands of the landlord, and made a law that is very specific about where registered sex offenders are allowed to live.

this is Marie’s fiance, it is really going to be tough to fill these apartments when all these kids are becoming registered sex offenders for sending nude photos of them selves to there bf or gf. because when the reports come in to the office about criminal background the report doesn’t tell them what the crime is just weather or not the reporting agency recommends the applying party or not.

@justus2

I cannot answer for someone else, but I can tell you that coming to me ahead of time would get you considered, without discrimination.

@jca and my fiance is registered and is no where to be found on those sites because he isn’t even a level 1 on the tier levels, he doesn’t have a level.

you sound determined so good luck and let us know how it turns out.

@DrBill how likely would you be to accept someone who both the people they live with have a record, my fiance and my dad but for different things (marijuana)

I currently have a couple, who are both convicted felons.

@DrBill Ahh well that is good