Although you are not held responsible for the illegal activities your tenant may conduct, if you find out that your rental home is being used to conduct business, and your owners’ association does not allow this activity, your neighbors could hold you accountable. The impact of every legal action taken against you will probably depend on two things: how much you knew about the problem (and when), and whether or not you took steps to stop it.
How and When You Knew
At times tenants are very gifted at hiding shady activities from their landlords. But for all that, if you do detect something developing on your rental property, it is urgent to take steps immediately to attend to the difficulties. In some regions, if your renter does something dangerous or illegal as a result of ongoing activities of which you were aware, you could be held liable in court. For example, if you knew one of your tenants was using your rental home as a daycare and one of your renter’s or their clients hurt someone, themselves, or damaged personal property, the court could be more likely to hold you liable for any damages.
The Slippery Slope of “Should”
In some conditions, the question if you “should” have known about a renter’s illicit activities may ensue. For instance, if you know your tenant is self-employed before you present them a lease, there is some confusion about whether or not that expresses that you should have expected they would be administering that field in the rental household. At the same time, if your renter had been evicted for loud parties in the past, you may be held accountable since you should have checked with their previous landlord about it. Unexpectedly, if you’ve completed due diligence and didn’t identify any proof of past troubles, that will boost your possibilities of avoiding liability.
Addressing the Problem
It is inevitably a good idea to deal with any troubles a renter is producing immediately after you discover about them. But there are times that a property landlord has limited ability to totally resolve the matter. If a tenant is creating a nuisance for the neighbors but hasn’t actually broken the terms of the lease, you can’t be held responsible for failing to evict them. As a means to be liable, you should you must have the power to actually do something about the issue. Certainly, the flip side is that if your lease makes it apparent that you don’t enable loud gatherings or business activities and you don’t take action, you could be liable in a lawsuit.
In Conclusion
The specific terms and language used in the lease is an important first step toward holding your tenants accountable for any nuisance or illicit activities. At the same time, taking on-the-spot and relevant move is also important to keep yourself from being sued by outraged neighbors. Screening your renters methodically is another indispensable portion of keeping yourself out of unpleasant legal annoyance, as is fulfilling approved property valuations. At Real Property Management Landmark, we do all of this for our Garden City property owners – and more. Would you like to learn more? Please contact us online or by phone at 516-522-2859 for more information.