Clearly understanding the potential legal consequences of a tenant’s negligence is a rather significant challenge for landlords. When your tenant signed the lease, they basically agreed to maintain your Winston-Salem rental home in a clean and proper condition and refrain from illegal activities. However, as it happens, not all tenants adhere to these terms, and troubles that start on the property can, in a flash, escalate into legal problems for you.
While it’s true that you are not held responsible for the illegal activities of your tenant, if you learn that your rental home is being used for unauthorized business activities, your neighbors could potentially hold you totally responsible. The outcome of any legal action taken against you will principally rely on your awareness of the issue and the steps you took to to properly deal with it. Being proactive in such situations is highly critical to protecting your interests.
How and When You Knew
Oftentimes, renters are really good at hiding shady activities from their landlords. But, take note, if you do sort out what is happening on your rental property, it is pertinent to address the issues immediately. In a lot of regions, you could be held liable in court if your tenant engages in dangerous or illegal activities that you were truly aware of.
For instance, 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 be eligible to hold you liable for any damages.
The Slippery Slope of “Should”
In some cicumstances, whether you “should” have known about a renter’s illicit activities may crop up. For instance, if you hear your renter is self-employed before you offer them a lease, there is some confusion with respect to whether or not that hints that you should have assumed they would be conducting that business in the rental home.
However, if your renter had been evicted for boisterous parties in the past, you may be held accountable since you should have checked with their previous landlord about it. Most certainly, if you’ve completed your due diligence and didn’t know any evidence of past problems, that will boost your chances of avoiding liability.
Addressing the Problem
Addressing any problems a renter creates the soonest you are aware of them is always a good idea. But, indeed, 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 squarely 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 truly do something relative to the issue. That being said, the flip side is that if your lease clarifies that you don’t allow uproarious parties or business activities and you don’t take action, you really might be on the hook in a lawsuit
The specific terms and language used in the lease are a crucial first step toward holding your tenants accountable for any nuisance or illicit activities. Other than that, taking immediate and appropriate action is, in addition, necessary to keep yourself from being sued by uneasy neighbors.
Fully screening your renters is another significant part of keeping yourself out of unwelcome legal trouble, as is executing regular property evaluations. At Real Property Management of the Triad, we do all this for our Winston-Salem property owners – and more. Would you like to ascertain more? Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us online or by phone at 336-355-6666 for more gainful 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.
