Understanding the potential legal consequences of a tenant’s negligence is, indeed, a considerable challenge for landlords. When your tenant signed the lease, they basically agreed to maintain your Bethlehem rental home in a clean and proper condition and refrain from illegal activities. However, in actual fact, not all tenants adhere to these terms, and troubles that start out on the property can rapidly escalate into legal problems for you.
Recognizing that you are not held responsible for the illegal activities of your tenant, but, on the other hand, if you’ve been informed that your rental home is being used for unauthorized business activities, your neighbors could potentially hold you completely responsible. The outcome of any legal action taken against you will very likely rely on your awareness of the issue and the steps you took to appropriately address it. Being proactive in such situations is absolutely critical to protecting your interests.
How and When You Knew
From time to time, renters are quite good at hiding shady activities from their landlords. Except, if you do perceive there’s something happening on your rental property, it is essential to address the issues immediately. In most regions, you could be held liable in court if your tenant engages in dangerous or illegal activities that you truly were aware of.
Specifically, if you knew one of your tenants was using your rental home as a daycare and one of your renters or their clients hurt someone, themselves, or damaged personal property, the court could perhaps hold you liable for any damages.
The Slippery Slope of “Should”
Sometimes, in a few instances, whether you “should” have known about a renter’s illicit activities may come up. Particularly, if you determined your renter is self-employed before you offer them a lease, there is some confusion about whether or not that insinuates that you also should have assumed they would be conducting that business in the rental home.
Furthermore, if your renter had been evicted for flashy and loud parties in the past, you may be held accountable since you should have checked with their previous landlord about it. By all means, if you’ve finished doing your due diligence and didn’t see any evidence of past problems, that will improve your chances of avoiding liability.
Addressing the Problem
Addressing any problems a renter creates the first chance you are informed about them is always a good idea. But despite that, sometimes, a property owner has a limited ability to entirely fix the issue altogether. If a tenant is creating a nuisance for the neighbors but hasn’t undoubtedly broken the lease terms, you can’t be held responsible for failing to evict them.
To be held liable, you must have the power to totally do something concerning the issue. Certainly, the flip side is that if your lease clarifies that you don’t allow boisterous parties or business activities and you don’t take action, accordingly, you might be on the hook in a lawsuit.
The specific terms and language used in the lease are a pertinent first step toward holding your tenants accountable for any nuisance or illicit activities. In addition to that, taking immediate and appropriate action is likewise substantial to keeping yourself from being sued by anxious neighbors.
Attentively and completely screening your renters is another focal part of keeping yourself out of unwelcome legal trouble, as is putting into effect regular property evaluations. At Real Property Management Pro Care, we do all this for our Bethlehem property owners – and more. Would you like to find out more? Make certain to get in touch with us online or by phone at 215-770-4312 for more needed information.
We are pledged to the letter and spirit of U.S. policy for the achievement of equal housing opportunity throughout the Nation. See Equal Housing Opportunity Statement for more information.
