An unauthorized occupant in an apartment is someone living in the unit who isn't on the lease and hasn't been approved as an occupant. Property teams resolve it in three steps. Confirm the facts. Decide whether the person is a guest, an occupant or someone who should be a tenant. Then apply one of three outcomes, consistently, under the same policy and rules: screen and add them, ask them to leave, or treat it as a lease violation.

For example: the maintenance technician mentions it first. It's the third visit to 4C this month, and each time the person who answered the door wasn't the resident on the lease.

Then a parking permit request comes in for a car registered to a name nobody recognizes. Then packages start arriving for that name. The leasing manager checks the file: one adult on the lease, no occupants listed.

Nobody on the team knows who this person is. They haven't been screened, they haven't signed anything, and they've been living there for weeks. And in a community of a few hundred units, 4C is rarely the only one.

Why does an unauthorized occupant matter?

Because the lease, the screening and the records all describe a household that doesn't exist.

An adult living in the unit without approval:

• hasn't been through the screening every other resident went through

• may not appear on parking, access or emergency contact records

• can affect program compliance in subsidized housing, covered below

And the longer it continues, the harder it is to resolve. 

The goal isn't to catch people out. It's to get the records to match reality, quickly and fairly.

Guest, occupant or tenant?

That's the framework the whole team works from. The first decision is which of three categories the person fits, because each has different rules.

An unauthorized occupant is someone living in the unit like an occupant, without the approval that would make them one.

Where's the line between a long visit and living there? Your lease should say. A lease can set a guest-stay limit, such as a number of nights in a set period, after which the guest needs approval. Without a written limit, the team ends up arguing about facts instead of applying a rule.

How do property teams confirm it?

Unauthorized occupants usually surface through everyday operations:

• maintenance or inspection visits

• parking permit or vehicle registration requests

• mail and package deliveries

• requests for access cards, fobs or amenity access

• comments from neighbors

When something comes up, document what was observed and when, and stick to facts. Don't enter the unit outside your normal entry rules to investigate, and don't monitor residents.

Then talk to the resident. Often there's a simple answer: a partner who moved in, a relative between homes, a friend who was meant to stay a week. A direct, non-accusatory conversation can clarify the situation before anyone decides whether formal action is needed.

What are the three ways to resolve it?

Choose one, record the reason, and apply the same choice to the same facts, under the same policy and rules, across every property.

1. Screen them, and add them

If the resident wants the person to stay, they apply. Screen them against the same criteria as any other applicant.

If you deny someone based in whole or in part on a consumer report, the federal Fair Credit Reporting Act requires an adverse action notice.

If they pass, add them as either:

• a tenant, signing the lease and taking on its obligations, or

• an authorized occupant

  , listed on the lease, with the resident remaining responsible for them

2. Ask them to leave

If the resident doesn't want to add them, or the person doesn't want to apply, set a written deadline for them to leave, consistent with the lease. Confirm it with the resident, not the occupant. Your relationship is with the person on the lease.

3. Treat it as a lease violation

If the person stays without approval after the deadline, the next step is a formal lease violation notice to the resident, under your state's rules. In Florida, for example, section 83.56(2) lists unauthorized guests among its examples of curable lease violations, which get a 7-day notice to cure. The 3-day notice applies to nonpayment of rent.

What you can't do is remove the person yourself. Lockouts, changing locks, shutting off utilities and removing belongings are self-help evictions. In Florida, for example, self-help eviction is illegal under section 83.67, with no exception for lease violations. Removal goes through the court process.

When is it more than a lease violation?

Some situations carry legal duties of their own. Your process should flag them before the standard steps apply.

Who owns each step?

What should leadership watch?

Unauthorized occupancy is a consistency problem before it's anything else. The same facts, under the same policy and rules, should produce the same outcome at every property. If they don't, every case becomes harder to defend.

Two things are worth tracking across the portfolio:

• Outcomes by property. If one property adds most of its unauthorized occupants and another serves notices on most of them, find out why.

• Time from first report to resolution. A case that sits open for months is the hardest kind to resolve.

And one control question: pull the last ten unauthorized-occupant cases across the portfolio. Was each one resolved under the applicable policy, with the facts and the decision recorded? If the answer depends on which property it was, the policy isn't really a policy yet.

Where RIOO fits

RIOO is property management software built directly on NetSuite.

• Occupant records. RIOO's Contracts & Renewals tools include occupant records, so teams can monitor every occupant associated with a unit. That supports property safety and adherence to the lease terms.

• Screening built in. RIOO covers tenant acquisition and screening, so a person being added can go through the same process as any other applicant.

• One lease record. Property, building, unit, tenant and lease records are all NetSuite records, so the people on the lease and the unit they're in sit in the same system as the rent.

• Digital lease signing. RIOO handles digital lease creation and e-signing, so adding an approved tenant or occupant doesn't have to wait for an office visit.

Note:This blog is operational guidance, not legal advice. Rules on guests, occupancy limits, notices and removal differ by state, city and housing program, and they change. Last reviewed October 2026. Confirm what applies to each property with qualified professionals.

Frequently asked questions

Q1. What is an unauthorized occupant?
Someone living in a rental unit who isn't on the lease and hasn't been approved by the landlord as an occupant. They're different from a guest, who lives elsewhere, and from a squatter, who has no permission from anyone.

Q2. How long can a guest stay before becoming an occupant?
It depends on your lease. A lease can set a guest-stay limit, such as a number of nights in a set period, after which the guest needs approval. Without one, the line is much harder to draw.

Q3. Can a landlord remove an unauthorized occupant without an eviction?
Generally not. Lockouts, changing locks and shutting off utilities are self-help evictions, which are illegal in many states, including Florida. Faster sheriff removal processes for squatters generally don't apply to people a tenant invited in.

Q4. Can a tenant be evicted for having an unauthorized occupant?
It can be a lease violation, but notice comes first. In Florida, for example, section 83.56(2) lists unauthorized guests among its examples of curable lease violations, which get a 7-day notice to cure. Most cases resolve earlier, with the person being added or leaving.

Q5. Should you screen someone before adding them to the lease?
Yes. Use the same screening criteria as for any other applicant. If you deny them based in whole or in part on a consumer report, send an adverse action notice.

Q6. Can you limit how many people live in a unit?
Yes, with a reasonable occupancy policy applied consistently. HUD's Keating memo treats two persons per bedroom as a generally reasonable standard, but it can be rebutted. A policy enforced selectively against families with children is evidence of discrimination.

Q7. Can a Section 8 tenant add someone to the household?
Only with the housing authority's approval. The household must request approval before adding any family member as an occupant, and no one outside the assisted family may live there except an approved foster child or live-in aide.

Q8. Is an unauthorized occupant the same as a squatter?
No. An unauthorized occupant was let in by a resident. A squatter has no permission from anyone. Some states, such as Florida, have faster removal processes for squatters, but those generally don't cover people a tenant invited in.