is landlord responsible for illegal acts in apt?

[Talya]

As a land lord am I responsible if a tenant is commiting crimes such as doing drugs or possibly selling drugs in the space they rent from me? I have no proof and do not want to turn them in. What can I do?
Help please.

 

[I AM ALWAYS LIABLE]

As a land lord am I responsible if a tenant is commiting crimes such as doing drugs or possibly selling drugs in the space they rent from me? I have no proof and do not want to turn them in. What can I do?
Help please.

**** U.S. LAW ONLY - PLEASE INCLUDE YOUR STATE BECAUSE LAWS VARY FROM STATE TO STATE.****

 

[Cvillecpm]

Liable to who? You could easily loose property under federal asset forfeiture laws. If you believe or know of such activity, notify police and make documentation on who you talked to and when. Get other residents to do the same.

Unfortunately, drug dealers always pay their rent and don't make problems as when they move, they loose business. Clean up the property or the Feds will do it for you.

 

[jlw1000]

How do you propose a landlord puts a stop to such illegal activity? I am only asking because I had tenants that were dealing drugs from one of my rental units. I had reported this to the police, and nothing was done. These tenants went on to discontinue paying rent, destroy my property, threaten to shoot my husband etc., etc. The eviction process was a joke, since the court gave them extensions when they requested.

 

[Cvillecpm]

JLW...don't know where you are, but most police departments will take a citizens complaint/incident report/courtesy report from citizen who walks into office with information that can be verified.

Otherwise, talk to city council person, or elected official whose area drug property is located.

Federal asset forefeiture laws have been changed and a landlord can now protect themselves if they can prove they tried to get help and notified authorities. Getting copies of incident report, etc. is way to prove you did this.

As for your other questions, better tenant screening would be the only response that is uniformly applicable in situation you describe.

 

[jlw1000]

I did screen the tenant. I pulled a credit report. She only had a few small accounts, but all were in good standing & nothing derogatory. I verified employment & saw paystubs. I called her previous landlord that gave an excellant reference for a 4 year history. As to her previous residence-she said she had a home but had to sell it when her hubby passed away. She said the mortgage was in his name only, so it did not appear on her credit. Now if there is something else I could have done, I am open to suggestions, but I think I was pretty thorough.

I found out later, that this woman is a professional deadbeat. When I had all these difficulties with this woman I called the landlord that had given me the reference. It turns out this person was a friend that lied for her, they had since had a falling out so the friend told me this woman's sordid past. She was NEVER married, and ripping off landlords was how she subsidized her lifestyle. She said that an apartment complex this woman had lived in had started eviction procedures as well. I called this apartment complex because I was baffled as to why the eviction did not show on her credit. It turns out that the tenant abandoned the property as soon as she knew an eviction was unavoidable and they could not find her to serve papers and get their judgment. Which is what she did to me too, so her credit still looks fine and I am sure she is happily screwing another landlord.

As for contacting the authorities, I find the law enforcement in our state to be lacking (as do many people in our area). I have had the misfortune to be the victim of various crimes & found the police to be unhelpful. (Even when the suspect is known!)

 

[Cvillecpm]

Your story is WAY off the mark from your original post - however, I as a professional property manager pull a "tenant profile" report through a tenant screening service. It costs me about $10 and I charge a credit check fee of $25....your "deadbeat" would not have paid me the $25 knowing that her past would be screened for other than just her credit....THAT IS YOUR MISTAKE.

Check with your local apt association or Realtor group for method of screening other than just a retail CBI or credit report....

Additionally, look at your application form.....I have a professional application that provides for information - most of which will be verified by Tenant Profile report; however, since this is the first and possibly ONLY time I will get this information, I get as much as I can. Getting nearest relatives' information, past 2 landlords - don't just call current, call past one too.

Get really good landlord screening tips from the Q&A on Mr.Landlord....www.mrlandlord.com....

 

[jlw1000]

It does pertain to the original post--this is the same tenant that was dealing drugs from the rental unit. When I went to the police station to file a report, with one of the neighbors to the rental property, we were told there was nothing the police could do. The neighbor had witnessed the illegal activities going on, but the police were not interested. In addition to the drug activity, there were many domestic violence incidences that the police were called for (but nothing was ever done), and on some occasions there were weapons involved outside of the home (according to neighborhood witnesses). The attitude of the police was noone was hurt, so their involvement should be minimal (just lectures).

I just do not think there should be laws allowing the government to seize a property for drug related activities, when law enforcement refuses to assist (they would not even take a report or talk to these people). Also, when I had grounds to evict these people I ran to the courthouse, only to have the court give them extensions for bogus reasons (i.e. could not get off work, had to get their rent receipts in order--they weren't paying, etc.)

I did pull a tenant screening through TSCI.com, I did the mini report which provides credit report, unlawful detainer (eviction) search, and checks for skips, damages, monies owed. As I stated in my post there wasn't information for a previous landlord, because she lived in a house with her husband. (The mortgage was in his name only). I did have her criminal history pulled when she started making death threats to my husband, and remarkably she does not have one! (Just as she did not have any mars on her credit history, or evictions). She is a career criminal that knows how to beat the system.

The tenant did pay the fee for screening. She knew how to work the system, and knew she had not left a trail. (Plus I have had people with terrible credit, and evictions pay the fee knowing what I would turn up and that they would be declined!)

Also, my application form is professional, provided by my attorney as well as my lease. This form asks for name, current address, ss #, place of employment, 2 family references, 2 job references, their information on their vehicles, and past 2 landlords. This form also gives me permission to pull credit, verify references and employment etc.

I just fail to see where I made a mistake. There are people that are victims of crime through no fault of their own. Blaming the victim is not a solution and is really insulting. Your starting to sound like our local law enforcement!