Truly understanding the potential legal consequences of a tenant’s negligence is a considerable challenge for landlords. When your tenant signed the lease, they inherently agreed to maintain your South Burlington rental home in a clean and proper condition and refrain from illegal activities. However, in practice, not all tenants adhere to these terms, and complications that get initiated on the property can promptly escalate into legal problems for you.
Conceding that you are not held responsible for the illegal activities of your tenant, however, if you actually know that your rental home is being used for unauthorized business activities, your neighbors could potentially hold you chargeable. The outcome of any legal action taken against you will mainly hang on your awareness of the issue and the steps you took to correctly address it. Being proactive in such situations is absolutely critical to protecting your interests.
How and When You Knew
Once in a while, renters are really good at hiding shady activities from their landlords. Then again, if you do figure out happening on your rental property, it is relevant to address the issues immediately. In majority of regions, you could be held liable in court if your tenant engages in dangerous or illegal activities that you were truly aware of.
To cite an 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, presumabley, hold you liable for any damages.
The Slippery Slope of “Should”
Not very often, but in a few instances, whether you “should” have known about a renter’s illicit activities may arise. For instance, if you ascertained your renter is self-employed before you offer them a lease, there is some confusion pertaining to whether or not that also entails that you should have assumed they would be conducting that business in the rental home.
On the other hand, if your renter had been evicted for exuberant parties in the past, you may be held accountable since you should have checked with their previous landlord about it. Obviously, if you’ve put into effect due diligence and didn’t grasp any evidence of past problems, that will add to your chances of avoiding liability.
Addressing the Problem
Addressing any problems a renter creates the moment you learned of them is always a good idea. Still, sometimes, a property owner has a limited ability to totally fix the issue altogether. If a tenant is creating a nuisance for the neighbors but hasn’t surely broken the lease terms, you can’t be held responsible for failing to evict them.
To be wholly liable, you must have the power to categorically do something regarding the issue. Doubtlessly, the flip side is that if your lease clarifies that you don’t allow powerful parties or business activities and you don’t take action, then you certainly might be on the hook in a lawsuit
The specific terms and language used in the lease are an integral first step toward holding your tenants accountable for any nuisance or illicit activities. Aside from that, taking immediate and appropriate action is supplementarily important to keep yourself from being sued by perturbed neighbors.
Diligently and thoroughly screening your renters is another salient part of keeping yourself out of unwelcome legal trouble, as is implementing regular property evaluations. At Real Property Management Sterling, we do all this for our South Burlington property owners – and more. Would you like to actually learn more? You are always welcome to get in touch with us online or by phone at 802-861-6468 for more information you need.
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.