Landlord/tenant laws

[frugalone]

I don't know if I am posting in the correct thread or not, but here goes:

We have a problem neighbor. The family is Section 8, and the landlord is a slumlord, so it's "easy money" for him. This neighbor has been causing us issues for years, but recently, he really went over the edge.

I'm wondering: Can a landlord ever be held responsible for their tenants' behavior? Can he be taken to court or anything?

The landlord knows just how big a wack job this tenant is. He has admitted to us, "The guy is nuts." But he thus far has not made any moves toward eviction.

We are not the only people in the neighborhood who have had trouble with the wack job, by the way.

[Teacher Terry]

I had a friend in a similar situation and they complained all the time and finally the city forced the landlord to evict the tenants.

[pinkytoe]

We just bought a house and it came with tenants so we are now landlords. Yuck!! I am learning it is best to check with your local city/county for tenant issues. Here at least, tenants have way more "rights" than landlords.

[frugalone]

I don't know how far we're going to get. No one wants to handle the issue, so I'm thinking we are going to have to move. (I posted another thread last week, about moving concerns). Everyone wants to pass the buck on this issue. The neighbor is a sociopath with some kind of mental illness, but he's sharp enough to play all kinds of pranks and bring in law officials, and then tells people like us, "I'm crazy. That's why I do things."

[iris lilies]

In my neighborhood we band together and work with the "Problem Property" city official for our neighborhood for problems like this. Calls for services from law enforcement officers, reports of building violations including weeds, garbage, and animals, These are all tallied aganst rhe property. After a while the city gets fed up because one property is using so many services, plus, my neighborhood officers talk to city officials and our alderman about the problems these tenants and the property bring here, putt Ng pressure on them to cite the landlord for building violations.

It can take a couple of years, but eventually the badnicks move on because the lamdlord's feet are held to the fire.

This is a political solution, not a legal solution.

At this moment I am working with our neighborhood officer in charge of our neighborhood's "problem property" list on a property on our corner. It has been going downhill for some time, the tenants now are somewhat questionable, and they will only get worse.

[frugalone]

iris lilies, I think that's an excellent solution. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't work in my neighborhood. I can't wait a couple of years anyway. But I like your ideas!

[iris lilies]

iris lilies, I think that's an excellent solution. Unfortunately, it probably wouldn't work in my neighborhood. I can't wait a couple of years anyway. But I like your ideas!

I know, it really doesn't work if you dont have a strong neighborhood association to bring pressure.

We spend a great deal of time and effort cultivating relations with law enforcement and aldermanic offices so that when we need resources, we get them. Of course its not that easy and we always want more cops on the street around here, but still we do work effectively with the police.

People dont understand what a big difference a strong neighborhod association makes here. I am not talking about an HOA. I am talking about a local political organization that works for the betterment of the neighborhood. It doesnt cost anyone anything if they choose not to participate, but fortunately, many people step up to volunteer.

[ToomuchStuff]

You do have to start with Iris lilies suggestions.
Once you have a pattern of complaints, then things start rolling and other options can happen. My neighborhood had a section 8 house in it. The owners son is a LEO in our jurisdiction. He was an absentee landlord. Things started with a neighbor, picking up a signal from that houses phone, over her baby monitor (same frequency back then) and she heard their drug deals over the phone. The little kids tried breaking into a couple of houses to steal food (under 10), as well as hiding under a neighbors house and trying to start a fire with mail they got out of the box. The guy would hit the gal and she would walk up to the battered woman's shelter up the street and come back a couple days later. After he was drunk and almost dislocated one of the kids arms and grabbing the other by his hair, they both had crewcuts. Complaints were made, the post office called, reports about the drug stuff, etc. etc. etc. The neighbors had enough, before the city did, and we, as the entire block, sent a certified, return receipt letter, signed by everyone in the neighborhood, threatening loss of value/causing safety issues with us, small claims lawsuits from all of us, individually. THAT brought out the landlord, and he had a talk with his son, who I expect got other balls rolling.
He wasn't supposed to be living there, and agencies were looking for him. Car reposessors came looking for him. She was kicked out of the program for fraud, and agencies were looking for her. I guess there was other postal stuff, as they came looking. She lost her kids, and the case worker lost her job, as she was a friend of hers, who put them really close so she could see them pretty much every day. When everyone started looking for them, they skipped pretty quickly out of there, and tried to destroy the house (we did call the landlord then and give a heads up). It saved him thousands and he did become an active landlord. He had one more tenant, after that there and bought one other house which he put a tenant. Both were great, but I think he realized our area was more work then he wanted and as the houses were fixed up, he sold them and got out.

That house actually helped cause more communication with the neighbors that lived there at the time.

[frugalone]

ToomuchStuff--what is a LEO?

Wow, that is quite a story. We don't have any kind of neighborhood association, just a Facebook crimewatch group (which is kind of goofy). This isn't a situation where there are drugs or anything quite so severe. It's basically a PITA who trespasses onto others' property and does things like put his stuff on there (for instance, we have a bank-owned house next door, and he has parked several junk vehicles on it), cut down our hedges, mostly petty harassment. He makes sure there are never any witnesses to his acts (except maybe his nutball wife).

When I was growing up, there was a Section 8 situation in my mom's neighborhood. There were small children asking neighbors for food, and junk vehicles in the yard. Similar to what you are describing, our neighbors all signed a petition asking the landlord to get rid of the tenants as it was bringing down the value of the homes in the neighborhood. It actually worked.

My spouse seems to think "this can all be worked out," but I don't. He thinks somehow the looney will "learn his lesson" and stop harassing us and others. I seriously doubt it. That's why I'm wondering if action with the landlord is warranted.

[herbgeek]

what is a LEO?

Law Enforcement Officer aka cop.