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Have a tenant who moved son in with them without asking permission. Son not on lease. Has been living there for about 3 months before this was discovered. Asked tenant to move son out. Asked tenant to have son's mail removed from the rental property. A certified letter, which tenant did not answer, was sent to remove son from the property and have his mail sent to another place. Son's belongings are still on property, and Tenant advised me that you can have your mail delivered to any address for 1 year. Again, asked tenant to remove son's mail from rental property. To this date, son's mail is still coming to rental property. (fast forward last week) Tenant say's son is happy at his own place. But his mail is still coming to my rental property.

Two questions in reference to these issues:
A) Because tenant has not complied with certified mail, and still has son's mail there, does tenant get their deposit back? (i would think that would breach of lease contract)

B) what can i do about the son getting his mail at lease property when he is not on the lease?

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    What does your lease say about mail for people who are not tenants? or why do you presume that non-tenants' mail being delivered there would constitute breach of contract?
    – Iñaki Viggers
    Mar 30, 2020 at 23:14
  • lease is only in tenant's name. having son live on property without landlord's knowledge or permission would be breach of contract, right? They are not on the lease agreement/contract.
    – pattie
    Mar 30, 2020 at 23:22
  • by claiming mailing address without being a tenant, would that constitute residency of legality of any sort?
    – pattie
    Mar 30, 2020 at 23:42
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    Tenancy law very frequently overwrites large portions of 'regular' contract law with specific requirements or restrictions. Just claiming "it's not in the lease so doing it is a breach" makes no legal sense and is almost surely wrong.
    – user4657
    Mar 31, 2020 at 5:09
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    How do you know his mail is being delivered there? Why do you care?
    – Damila
    Mar 31, 2020 at 14:39

1 Answer 1

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Close family members can stay as long as the tenant wants

The tenant is entitled to "quiet enjoyment" of the property which includes living with their close relatives - spouse, de facto and children would all qualify; parents and siblings might as well. It doesn't matter if these people are children or adults.

You cannot contract out of this as you are not allowed to discriminate in housing based on family situation.

The tenant is also entitled to have non-relative house guests stay for as long as is reasonable. A month or so would be reasonable; longer than that and it starts to look like a sub-lease for which they would need your permission.

There is generally a limit under texas law of 3 adults per bedroom but that doesn't seem to be an issue here.

I also can't see where having a non-resident's mail delivered to the property is something you have a say about.

I'd be very careful if I were you because it seems like you are on the wrong side of the law here.

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