Guest vs Occupant

My girlfriend rents a room in a house with 4 other roomates. The lease
agreement says that there is 1 occupant (name on the lease). There is nothing included about guests or visitors to the house.

I maintain my own residence where I spend most of my time. I do not have a key to the house nor are any of my possessions in the house. I am never there without my gf. I live in a different city and when I visit sometimes I stay the night. Would I be considered an occupant or just an overnight guest? Is any guest staying the night in violation of the 1 occupant rule or are they just overnight guests?

Again, there is no definition of occupant or how long guests or visitors can
stay or what hours they can be over. There is nothing in the lease about guests not being allowed on the premises.

I maintain my own residence where I spend most of my time. I do not have a key to the house nor are any of my possessions in the house. I am never there without my gf.

The 'manager' has repeatedly been rude to me when I visit my gf. The other night she essentially said "get the (censored) out".

The house is located in Seattle, WA.

[OHlandlord]

Whether you are a guest or an occupant depends on how much time you spend at her unit. Even if you maintain your own unit in a different city, if you spend the night too frequently, you can be considered an occupant there too. How often are you staying?

Between 1 night and 3 nights a week. If it is not written into the lease how exactly is it that there are time constraints?

[OHlandlord]

The time constraints are common sense. Let's see how this works out. You stay an average of 2 nights per week X 52 weeks per year = 104 nights a year average! 104 nights out of 365 nights is 28 1/2 percent. So you are living at this unit more than 28 percent (more than 1/4) of the time. If you stay 3 nights a week, that's almost 43% of the time. There may be no time constraints in that lease, but if the LL pays for any utilities and you are there that much of the time, you will significantly increase the utility (water and/or electric) bill by staying that often. Even if the LL doesn't pay for utilities, he has a right to know who is staying in his unit. Are you registered with the LL as a frequent overnight guest?

There may well be local laws or state statutes on how many unrelated people can live in a property. (There are already 4 there.) Many states and cities have these laws to keep a place from becoming a rooming house without a license. With you there they have 5 in the house. And if they allow you to stay this often, they would have to allow the other 3 tenants in that house to do the same with their BFs or GFs (then there could be 8 in that unit at one time)! If they all stayed as often as you, that would be the equivalent of more than one extra person living in the house all the time (28 1/2% x 4 = 114%). The LL figured on wear & tear from 4 adults there full time, not more.

Additionally, she already has 3 other roommates in that house. Have you ever thought that you may be inconveniencing these other people? I'm guessing you are there every weekend. They may not like that. One of them may be complaining to the manager. (They agreed to live with 3 other people, not 4.) If these roommates split the utilities evenly and you stay that often (increasing her share), the others are picking up part of your cost. Is she paying more for water or electric since you are staying this often?

Most leases allow 3 days per month or 10 days per lease term for overnight guests. That's 36 per year normally - you are staying an average of 102 per year (almost 3 times the expected amount). They may have neglected to insert this into the lease, but I bet it will be in there at renewal time. Seems easy to understand why the manger doesn't like it. If you plan on being there that much, your GF should really get her own place. You will probably continue to hear complaints about your stays.

I would not be greatly increasing the utilities costs because I am not there often enough. Saying that I stay there 1 or even 2 nights a week is not the equivilent of LIVING there two nights a week. I will go into more detail as to why but also the reason is that I am coming over late a night and leaving really early, 6 am.

I do not shower at my gf's house. I often do not eat there, unless she is already planning on making something or we pick something up(not increasing utilities AT ALL). The only thing I really do is use is the toilet and the sink to wash my hands. The other lights and appliances would be on regardless of my presence in the house. Also, my presence in the house generates heat so in effect I would be slightly lower heating, obviously not measurably. If you are going to take into account my stay in her house her stay in mine should be factored in as well. This week for instance she stayed at my place 2 nights, including the use of the stove to cook food for herself, something I do not do when at her house.

Still I understand your line of thought if the residents are not going in depth with exactly how I may or may not be impacting utilities. They may do a simple equation such as yours and grossly over estimate my impact on their cost. Either way, my best course of action is to avoid the (censored) while my gf looks for a new place to live. Another of the roommates is already planning on leaving and my gf will be leaving at the same time, a bit of a slap to the face to the daughter of the landlord. Typically no one who moves into the house lasts more than 6 or so months, they generally end up hating the girl and leaving.

[OHlandlord]

While I commend you on your ability not to increase the utilities, the fact that you are allowed to stay this often will generate rights for the other occupants to have their friends stay over an equal amount of time. And while you may do all in your power not to increase the utilities, I doubt the other guests will. This is one of the main reasons this cause dissent in the roommates. As for the time she stays at your place, is it allowed by your lease?

I believe your plan to avoid the entire conflict is a reasonable course of action. Hopefully she will be able to find a new unit quickly and the whole problem will be settled. Good luck to you two.