Discovering that you have dangerous tenants living in your rental investment is a landlord’s worst nightmare. Many tenants are decent people who will live quietly and just want a home to live life from. With most tenants, the worst you expect might be the occasional noise complaint, a parking spot dispute, or accidental damage. As a landlord, you are prepared to deal with a few hurdles and to be understanding about normal complaints.
You know what to do if a tenant doesn’t pay rent and you may even be prepared to start an eviction process for bad tenants who break house rules, but what do you do when you get a complaint that your tenants are doing truly dangerous things? How do you safely handle dangerous situations in the rental?
Fortunately, you don’t have to navigate the situation solo. Understanding the risks and building a policy of safe best practices can help you prepare for the worst. Just in case.
Common Dangerous Tenant Situations
- Drug Use
- Wild Parties
- Unauthorized Modifications
- Subletting a Vacation Rental
- Violent Behavior
- Dangerous Dogs
- Neglected Pets
- Bio-hazard Hoarding
While most tenants are good, responsible people, bad examples pop up often enough to form clear patterns. There are various types of dangerous situations that can occur in a rental. Some are frightening, some are messy, and in some cases the tenant is causing damage without realizing the risks of their behavior. It’s important to know what you might encounter when you respond to a report regarding dangerous tenant behavior.
Drug use and mental illness are often the most dangerous because tenants can become both destructive and unpredictable. Neglected pets are the next biggest problem, from dangerous dogs to overwhelming cats. Recently the issue of subletting – short term rentals with unvetted tenants living in your property – poses a new kind of risk. Compared to these, unauthorized DIY seems almost mundane.
How to Safely Handle Each Situation
For each type of dangerous situation that might occur in your rental home, it’s important to proceed with caution. Prioritize your own safety, the integrity of your investment, and the safety of your tenants.
Send a Notice
Most states require that you send notice at least 24 hours before the landlord or property manager visits the property, and sometimes a number of days before taking action regarding a complaint. Inform the tenant of the nature of the complaint (ex: wild parties, neglected pets, etc). This gives tenants a chance to:
- Correct issues that they may not have been aware of
- Stop the unauthorized behavior
- Vacate the premises
However, if the police need to be involved, do not delay. Take action immediately without getting involved in person.
Dangerous Tenant Behavior
Tenants engaged in drug use, domestic violence, or reports of aggression against others should be approached first by the police. Ask the police to check on your tenants and include the nature of the complaint or suspected behavior. Whether or not your tenant’s behavior is cause for an arrest, the police can typically confirm that tenants appeared to have broken lease terms or not.
Do not put yourself directly in these potentially dangerous situations. Send the police in your stead.
Unsafe Pet Situation
Not all tenants are responsible pet owners. In some cases, they intentionally keep dangerous dogs in the yard as a form of defense. But even more often, tenants will neglect dogs or cats until they become a hazard to the property, neighbors, and themselves.
Perform one visit in person to assess the situation. Are there barking, snarling dogs in the yard? Is the house filthy, chewed and scratched, or covered in pet debris? Are there more animals than you have authorized on the lease? Consider the cleanliness and care of the animals, potential hostility, and the mental state of your tenants. While animal neglect can be malicious, there could be additional factors.
Tell your tenant to care for their animals, clean up, and re-home extras beyond their allowed number. If necessary, call animal control to collect excessive neglected pets and call a welfare check for your tenant.
Destruction to the Home
There are many types of home destruction. People on drugs, people with rage and violence problems, people with excessive pets, and irresponsible DIY-ers can all cause serious damage to your rented house.
Document the damage as soon as you see it in person and begin filing for eviction, among other available legal actions. You may need to sue the tenant for an excessive damage settlement.
And whatever the cause of the damage, limit your time alone with destructive tenants.
Unauthorized Behavior
You may find tenants that are engaged in unauthorized behavior that is risky but not directly hostile or dangerous. Remind them of lease terms and consider if they have a history of lease violations.
Level any necessary fees and instruct tenants to stop the behavior before they risk eviction or a notice to quit. These situations might include loud parties, unauthorized subletting or vacation rental activity, or potentially dangerous projects in the garage or backyard.
As with everything else, make sure that you document every correspondence with your tenant.
Legal Considerations When Dealing with Dangerous Rentals
When you encounter tenants doing something dangerous, it’s natural to overreact. However, landlords can’t just take action. There are laws in place that protect you, the property, and your tenants. It’s important to follow the correct legal channels to keep yourself safe and ensure that your case is always on the right side if the law in case you have to take your tenant to court.
For example, always give notice before an inspection. Give the correct notice before asking tenants to vacate. Send the police or animal control while following the correct procedure as defined by the laws of your state. If you follow the correct procedure, you will have a much stronger position if you need to evict tenants, sue tenants for damages, or even defend yourself from false accusations.
How to Get Ahead of Dangerous Situations
The good news is that a few best practices can help prepare your properties against these kind of situations. While you can’t stop tenants from suddenly going wild, you can take reasonable precautions.
- In the Lease
- Clearly outline prohibited behaviors, quiet hours, subletting terms, maintenance access, pet policies, and other key rules in the lease that tenants sign as legally binding.
- 6 Month Inspections
- Schedule an inspection at least twice a year. This can be a quick walk-through, but it ensures a damaging situation never goes on longer than 6 months undetected.
- Red Folder Prep
- A “red folder” is a just-in-case plan. Prepare what you will need for eviction, lawsuits, and emergency procedures just in case. Know how to call the police for a welfare check, animal control for a humane cleanup, and so on.
Taking Care of Your Rental Properties with Prisma Landlord
Prisma Landlord is designed to help you keep track of all the essential property management tasks, from rent and finances to inspections, repairs, and maintenance requests. Contact us today to learn more about the tools that can help prevent and quickly handle dangerous situations in your rental properties.
* Please note that this is not legal advice. Consult law enforcement and/or your lawyer before taking any action.
