Posted by I am having a serious problem with my tenants and I need some help. (I will seek legal advice as well but would like to hear from other landlords and building owners who may be able to offer advice or see things from a new perspective).
I have some tenants that I want to evict. First of all, they are on drugs. It is two (boy and girl) teenagers, a mother, and the mothers bf. All 4 pop pills. The boy smokes pot. The mothers bf shoots up. In November and Dec. there had been a lot of break ins. Our basement had been broken into and beer stolen (we have a friend who owns a bar and rents our basement as extra storage for his bar. the bar is about a block away) Recently, my sister bcame friends with the tenant’s daughter. The daughter and her bf told my sister how he broke into all the houses and the basement and that she had helped him with 3 houses. His own mother admitted that the boy can pick any lock (as did he). My husband and I have a unit on the first floor. There had been times we would come home and things would just be out of place and wouldn’t seem right. But I could not figure how someone would get in. The only thing we have ever had missing is silverware (which was very baffling bc we have antiqued dishes computers, tv’s, etc.) I simply thought I had placed it somewhere else. My mother has a 2nd floor unit with my sister. Today she went in to my sister bedroom (my sis is away for the wkend). my sis’ tv stand and tv were moved to behind her door instead of in front of her window where it normally is. My mother didn’t think anything of it and put it back but couldn’t figure out why she would have moved it. Then it hit her (the window that it was moved from has a roof out side of it) my mom got looking and all of my sis’ movies are gone as well as her perfume, all of her shower products including shampoo and conditioner her proactiv, even her lotions. Yet her stereo and tv and dvd player are all there. (the window doesn’t shut completely tight bc the cable company ran the cord thru the window instead of drillin a hole which we plan to call them about and ask them to fix it). The one basement door is badly bent. (it is the one that was able to be manipulated and broken in to previously. so we had it secured). the daughters bf admitted to my sister that recently he had tried to break in to take more beer. I was in the basement the other night bc a tenant had tripped a breaker. Things were just out of place. then I saw where a bunch of stuff had been knocked over. The night before my husband and I heard something int here and he went and looked and it was secured so I am truly baffled. But I can not prove that these tenants are the ones doing it except for what they have told my sis.
We will be installing security cameras. (they are night vision too). Now, can we place them to point at the outer doors of the tenants? Or, is that an invasion of privacy? I am not worried so much about the unit the troublesome tenants are in but more about my other tenants. If they happen to be broken into I would like to have the cameras there to catch something (even tho I can pretty much guess who it is). Any other suggestions as to what I can do to catch these people in the act? (We do not have a police force. We have to rely on the state police. We’re a pretty small town. the state police do not patrol much nor will they increase their patrolling of this area I have asked. They won’t even speak to the tenants bc we have no proof.)
The kids are also the ones who told my sis of the drug usage. According to them they do deal a lot too.
My husband, mother and I purchased this building in Oct. 08. These tenants were already here. The previous owner supposedly checked them out.
They do have a lease. However, they are not breaking it. If it wasn’t for these little bits of information the kids had given my sister I would have thought they were perfect tenants! they put up an amazing front
Sounds like getting new tenants is definately the way to go. What if the police do a drugs raid. They will trash the house and can smash the door in without having to clean up or repair anything (unless a mistake has been made etc)
Usually, legally you can point cameras into public areas of your property (communal hallways and such) and you can point them at your own areas (if the basement is strictly out of bounds for the tenants then there’s nothing they can say about the cameras). You can point them at your sister’s window providing she doesn’t mind of course, but be aware, the tenants may (and most likely WILL) attack the cameras. Don’t point them at their door or you will get yourself into a whole heap of trouble. That’s invasion of privacy.
If they say anything about the cameras, simply tell them that your insurance company is wanting them and there’s not much you can do or you’ll have to raise their rent to cover your new higher insurance premiums.
The security cameras are a great idea. You are offering these tenants "extra protection" by watching their door secretly. See if they are doing anything that violates the lease, so you can file an eviction notice ( check local government for regulations on doing that) but to get them arrested would be better. Good luck. Suggestion: nest time get a credit check as well as criminal background check – charge the tenants for the cost of this. If any get nervous when you say you do that, you know they are hiding something bad.
first off do you have a lease? If you do thats good. Do they pay rent on time? Have they broken any part of the lease? { Like to many people living there} We just evicted tenants, but it took almost 2 months. Go online and start investigating tenant/landlord laws for your state. It was very helpful for us. Good Luck
Depending on state regulations you can place cameras in all public areas and those areas that are private and accessible only by you or your assigneess. IE: the basement. All cameras must be placed so that they do not look into or face any of the windows, they can however be placed to cover the approaches to all windows and doors.