From my experience I feel that more occupants in a rental unit results in more wear and tear and increased expenses. Is it legal to charge a base rent for one person with an additional amount for each additional person?
In general, justification for occupancy limitations is generally based on health and safety considerations, but financial consideration can also be of concern to landlords regarding real or perceived issues related to more occupants such as wear and tear, damage, parking spaces, utilities, noise, disturbances to neighbors, demands on services, and overcrowding of common areas.
A landlord may have legitimate business reasons to restrict the number of occupants allowed in a particular rental unit. Legitimate business reasons could include limitations of building systems such as plumbing, electrical, sewer or septic systems that cannot accommodate increased use. The age and condition of the rental unit as well as the size and configuration of the unit could also be a limiting factor for occupancy.
If the landlord’s occupancy policy restricts the number of occupants for reasons other than health, safety, or legitimate business need, the landlord may be putting himself at risk for claims of familial status discrimination.
The federal Fair Housing Act prohibits discrimination in housing because of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, familial status, and disability. Landlords cannot use occupancy restrictions to discriminate based on familial status. A landlord’s occupancy policy that directly or indirectly excludes or restricts children would be a violation of fair housing laws.
Familial status protections include:
- Adults in the household who have legal or designated custody of the child or children living in the household
- A child or children under the age of 18 years
- A child or children who are members of the household or expected to become household members
While it may be tempting to charge extra rent for additional tenants, a landlord should realize that the increased expense of additional occupants is not usually proportional to the number of occupants. If adequate screening and proper selection are utilized, then four occupants should not significantly increase the risk of damages compared to two occupants. More occupants will increase normal wear and tear, but not necessarily proportionally more. Even utilities that might be paid by the landlord will usually increase relatively little with additional occupants, certainly not proportional to the additional number. This is because (1) there are usually significant minimum service fees independent of usage and (2) few if any usage costs depend directly on the number of occupants.