I want to get a room-mate in to live with me to offset my mortgage but I live in Florida and friends are ?

Question

telling me to be very careful as I may not be able to get them to leave once they are in. My potential renter is a mature lady 47 years old and her 7 year old son. Any ideas as to what type of rental agreement I could write up to protect myself?

Answer 1

There are hundreds of questions here at Answers from people who had no idea how badly things can go wrong in a roommate situation.  What if your roommate falls in love and he moves in?  What if he moves in and he has 3 kids that he has every other week?   What if he smokes in your house?  What if he gets drunk and falls down and breaks his arm in your house?   You can't write any agreement to stop this.

And yet, there are some times in life when you just "take a chance".

Answer 2

How long do you want them there for?  In my rental agreement (I am the tennant), I have only signed it for one year with a potential option to renew the lease once the year is up.  Basically, the papers I signed only legally let me stay in this place for one year.  At the end of the year, if the landlord is happy with us as tennants and if the landlord is still planning on renting the space, he will give us the option to renew the contract.  Just get them to sign a contract that states they are renting it only for a limited time but it may be renewed when the time is up.  If you want them out by then, tell them their contract is up and you are no longer renting the space.

Answer 3

You may want to contact an attorney to write the agreement for you.  Better to know ahead of time what is or isn't legal.  You may also need a permit to have a renter in your home.  

I'd be doing a credit and background check on this person before I let them move in (unless you've known her awhile).