It can be more difficult to find an apartment in Boston as a couple even if there are other roommates.

I was inspired to write this article after reading this post on reddit titled, "Looking for an apartment in Boston with 4 friends, two of whom are a couple and will be sharing a room. How do we handle this?"

Essentially, landlords are concerned about the possibility that a couple might split mid-lease, which can cause serious problems for both the landlord and the tenants. If you're sharing a 1-bedroom apartment or a room in an apartment with roommates and you split up, whoever stays is on the hook for the rent. That's nearly impossible for most renters in Boston, many of whom are already spending a lot of their income on rent.

Honestly, I can totally understand if you're thinking it might be easier to just not tell the landlord about being a couple. But don't try to sneak someone into the apartment!

Here's some pretty solid advice from a landlord in Boston who commented on the reddit post : "I suggest being open and honest with your landlord. Do not try to sneak the extra person in. If you're LL finds out there is an extra person living there not on the lease that can be grounds for eviction. Or even if you aren't evicted, the LL might make you pay more in rent both going forward and retroactively. Or they might require the extra person to move out. Either way its a serious gamble that I wouldn't take. I would recommend talking to the LL first before putting anyone on the lease. The LL may ask for you to put everyone on the lease, or they may ask you to leave one person off. Either way I would keep get their preference in writing. And be aware a LL may not want an extra person in there at all. But I doubt that last part will happen too often."

Some landlords will ask that only one person be on the lease and the other listed as an "authorized resident". who's obviously allowed to live in the apartment, but isn't legally bound to the lease terms.

Translation: There are a lot of downsides to getting caught lying about who's in the apartment. Also, be prepared for a potentially awkward scenario where you have to choose who is on the lease (i.e. on the hook for all the rent in the off-chance you break up).

Being upfront can save you and your landlord a lot of anxiety!

There are definitely a couple drawbacks to being upfront.

• The landlord can ask for more rent more occupants means more usage of utilities and more wear and tear. Often, it's not a major change and many landlords let it slide, but you may see the landlord ask for an additional $50/month or so.

• The landlord may not accept your application I'm not sure of the legality of discriminating against two applications just because they're a couple (pretty sure that's illegal), but there's really no way to prove that's the case. If it's a 50/50 between a single occupant and a couple, the landlord mathematically has to choose one, so there's no real way of knowing their decision process. It's a tough situation for everyone.