Bad neighbors, ineffectual landlord, eviction in progress?

[beej]

What is the name of your state? Minnesota

I have posted in the past about this issue and gotten good advice. Now I need some more if possible.

We live in a duplex. Other side of the house is rented to a single mom who has friends/ family/ boyfriends/ kids coming and going, staying with her constantly, etc. They are very noisy (domestic arguments, the cops have been here) and are a constant problem. They have broken windows on their front door and left the glass on our (shared) porch; their children knock on our door all the time and ask to use the phone; they bang doors, scream at each other, blast music etc.

My landlord is aware of this as I have spoken to him multiple times. About two months ago he informed me that they have not paid rent for months and he was in the process of evicting them. His words were "the next step is going to be calling the cops to get them out." That was two months ago and they are still here.

I spoke with a tenant advocacy group (homeline) in St. Paul, and they directed me to a form letter to send to my landlord. It states that MN law implies quiet enjoyment, and says that I am supposed to give the landlord a two-week deadline to fix the problem. I am at the point of sending the letter (am documenting incidents, etc.) but have an issue with giving him a deadline, as he claims he is already in the eviction process with them so I don't think a deadline is going to do anything.

My questions:
-How long should eviction take? Am I to assume that they are staying after all since it's been a few months now? Sidenote: landlord is a total push-over and seems to have a serious problem asserting himself in this situation. He offered to pay us back for cellphone minutes when I told him the neighbor kids keep asking to use our phone.

-Would it be legal for me to send the landlord a letter requesting an early end to our lease (rather than demanding he fix the problem by a certain date) if the process of getting the neighbors out is going to take awhile? I would cite quiet enjoyment in the letter and see if he is open to the idea of letting us leave.

-Anything else I can do? Landlord no longer returns phone calls and I'm planning on sending him a certified letter but I need to figure out what to say first.

Any advice/ recommendations on what to send him/ what to say/ what to do would be greatly appreciated. Our lease isn't up til July and if these people are staying we want to move as soon as the snow melts.

 

[moburkes]

Eviction is not instant. Depending upon how the tenants respond to it, it could take months.

Google "quiet enjoyment" for your state.

Edit:
I'll help you:
QUIET ENJOYMENT - The right of a new owner or a lessee legally in possession to uninterrupted use of the property without interference from the former owner, lessor or any third party claiming superior title.

 

[beej]

Thanks for the reply, Moburkes. I have already read everything I can find on quiet enjoyment, and there is at least one case on record of a tenant in my state successfully ending a lease due to bad neighbors (it is on the homeline.org website, and is part of the materials they directed me to). http://www.homelinemn.org/downloads/May02-Noisy_Neighbor.pdf

But in that case, the landlord hadn't already told the tenant that the problem neighbors would be gone, as we have been told. That's where we're getting confused.

My problem is that if eviction is going to take months, that is months that we have to spend living next to these people. We are really frustrated. Not that it has any legal affect, but we pay 900+ in rent each month, and chose to do so specifically because this was a 'quiet place to live.' Definitely not the case, and we're feeling pretty cheated.

I guess the problem is that we need to know how long they're staying or if they're staying at all. But I don't think the landlord is able, legally, to give us that information (wouldn't that be between him and them in a court of law?) So we are trying to think of a good way to word a letter to tell him that we are not getting quiet enjoyment and if the situation is going to continue we want to leave. I just can't think of a legal, effective way to do this... we feel trapped on all sides here.

 

[moburkes]

I don't know what to tell you, but you'd probably have to go to court over your "right" to quiet enjoyment, which clearly means something different than what you thought. Is it worth it? Maybe. Will you win? Probably not.

 

[beej]

It doesn't "clearly mean something different than what I thought," as in the case I linked to above, "quiet enjoyment" does in fact apply to neighbors causing a disturbance, which is exactly what I have going on here. As I said, I have done some reading on this already. That wasn't my question.

Further, although I didn't ask about going to court, there is apparently a record that this does hold up in court and I would have a chance of winning (again, the info I linked to above). That wasn't my question, though. My question was if there is a way for us to approach the landlord and could we feasibly get out of the lease if the neighbors' eviction is going to take a long time. Rather than stating "would you fix this problem by such-and-such date," we are hoping to contact him and say "would you be open to ending our lease mutually due to the disturbance caused by these neighbors/ lack of quiet enjoyment." I was just wondering if that was an effective/ legal thing for us to do.

 

[beej]

From that document linked above:
"If it is found that the landlord’s inaction isallowing the noisy neighbors to intrude uponJane’s “quiet enjoyment” of the premises,this may be another avenue to success in arent escrow action. Quiet enjoyment is an implied covenant in every lease in Minne-sota.2It is often discussed in tenancies with noise problems, sometimes mistakenly.Quiet enjoyment does not simply mean thatthe apartment will be kept “quiet,” butrather, “the covenant of quiet enjoymentprotects the tenant’s right to freedom from serious interferences with his or hertenancy.”

The most traditional version of a quiet enjoyment violation would be the landlord renting the same property to two separate parties, while guaranteeing thateach has the exclusive right to possess.Quiet enjoyment could apply in Jane’s case,though, if she could show that her quietenjoyment is hindered by her neighbors’“interference with her tenancy” and the landlord failed or refused to remedy the problem.Although there is not a wealth of case lawon the issue, at least one Hennepin County Housing Court decision favored a tenantd ealing with noisy neighbors in a rent escrow action. In Person v. Torchwood Management,4a pro se tenant filed a rent escrow action for problems relating to neigh-bors. The court found that “loud and abusive language by neighboring tenants, noisy parties, unjustified harassment by other tenants and failure of landlord to effectively abate this nuisance” were sufficient factorsto find in favor of the tenant."

 

[moburkes]

1. This is ONE SUCCESSFUL example.
2. This person filed a rent escrow action. They didn't ask to get out of their lease.
3. Since the LL is evicting the tenant, he is making good faith effort to remedy the situation.
4. Your example also showed where the LL was favored in another lawsuit.

 

[beej]

1. This is ONE SUCCESSFUL example.

True, but it's also a definition of "quiet enjoyment" that shows that it does in fact apply in my case. And according to the advice I received from Homeline (renter's advocates), this is enough back-up for me to attempt talking to my landlord about this as my "rights" (as you put in quotes earlier) are being violated.

2. This person filed a rent escrow action. They didn't ask to get out of their lease.

Also true. My situation is different than theirs, and since (aside from the fact that the neighbors are still here) our landlord has been sympathetic to us, we are wondering if trying to get out of our lease is feasible here. Another part of my Original Question.

3. Since the LL is evicting the tenant, he is making good faith effort to remedy the situation.

Also true. As my Original Question stated, however, we don't know if the eviction is even still in progress. We haven't heard anything, they're still here, and we don't feel like we can legally ask. Another part of why I'm posting here for advice.

4. Your example also showed where the LL was favored in another lawsuit.

Also true. I didn't suggest a lawsuit at any point in my Original Question, and am hoping that rent escrow/ going to court is not going to be an issue. Really hoping that it won't. Trying to resolve this amicably with the landlord and wondering if that's possible, as I have stated.

 

[moburkes]

Since that is what they told you, then follow their advice.

 

[beej]

If I am being unclear I apologize. From my original question, what they told me was:

"they directed me to a form letter to send to my landlord. It states that MN law implies quiet enjoyment, and says that I am supposed to give the landlord a two-week deadline to fix the problem. I am at the point of sending the letter (am documenting incidents, etc.) but have an issue with giving him a deadline, as he claims he is already in the eviction process with them so I don't think a deadline is going to do anything."

"Would it be legal for me to send the landlord a letter requesting an early end to our lease (rather than demanding he fix the problem by a certain date)"

Thus, they didn't tell me to send this letter. They told me to send a different one, and I'm asking if my version of doing things is ok/ effective/ a good idea legally.

moburkes, I feel as though I'm p*ssing you off and if that is the case you don't need to bother responding. This thread wandered away from what I was asking when you suggested that quiet enjoyment was not what I thought it was, and although we've ironed that out, so far my question hasn't been answered yet. Sorry, I know that "internet voice tone" is often difficult to get across and I am not here to make anyone frustrated.

 

[moburkes]

It is legal for you to send your landlord a letter asking for anything you want.

 

[beej]

Thank you. I was not aware if it would do any good because I did not know if it would be possible for the landlord to say "Yes" and let you move out. I am assuming that if a miracle would happen and we would mutually agree, it would be OK to terminate the lease between the two of us? I'm assuming that we get it in writing?

Issue is that sending him this letter puts him in a tough spot because we would basically say "we want to move out due to the neighbors still being here," and I don't think he's legally able to tell us anything about their eviction status, which is basically what we would be asking for (i.e. if they are staying, we want to leave). So sending him the letter may be "pressuring" him to tell us info that he is not legally able to disclose, which would definitely lead to a 'no' response. This is what I mean by being trapped on all sides.

 

[moburkes]

You didn't ask if it will do any good in the most recent post. My opinion: None whatsoever. There is no harm in trying. He can tell you that he is evicting them. He is unlikely to. He has even stopped returning your calls.

 

[FarmerJ]

Beej in case you didnt know it our state is very pro tenant , that means that your LL is going to have to have alot of proof of the tenants lease violations in order to get the tenant to move out. Your LL will have to have things like multiple police reports and reports from any other agency that has been involved. Even then there is no promise anything the LL does is going to work since even the courts here vary in what they will do. If your in Minneapolis its fair odds that the LL is going to have a tougher time than say in Anoka or Stearns or even suburban Henn or Suburban Ramsey co. Non metro counties tend to have a lower tolerance for bad actions by anyone simply because the court systems in those counties are smaller and can clog more easily.

 

[beej]

Thanks for the info, FarmerJ. I am in northern MN, a fairly big town but definitely away from the metro area- up by the Iron Range. The landlord said that he never had any problems with these tenants before we moved in, so I am assuming there is just the one police report (which happened back in October). However, when I talked to him a few months ago he said that they were three months behind on rent and not returning his calls. I saw an official-looking notice (like court papers or something similar) stuck in their door a few days before that conversation, and then nothing has happened since. I wonder if that was enough to evict them on- a police report and overdue rent?

Also, about a month before he told me they were being evicted, he had called me in response to one of my complaint calls (the time they broke the glass on the porch) and he said that he wanted me to know that since we weren't happy, they were going to be kicked out. He said "I will keep you posted." So that is twice in the past three months he has told me they are on their way out, and they're still here. Not sure what is going on.

I'm sort of worried that they did a pay-and-stay, because before this the landlord was very responsive and apologetic to us and then we haven't heard anything since so I'm wondering if he's afraid to tell us that they are not being evicted after all.

Also wanted to add that they are no longer on a lease, apparently their year lease ran out and they have been month by month for awhile now. It is my understanding that this should make it easier for the landlord to get them out.

As I type this, they are screaming at each other and pounding on the wall between our staircases.