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Can an East Rockaway Landlord be Sued for a Renter’s Negligence?

A property manager sits at a table with a couple, discussing lease terms in a casual setting.Rightly understanding the potential legal consequences of a tenant’s negligence is a truly significant challenge for landlords. When your tenant signed the lease, they agreed to maintain your East Rockaway rental home in a clean and proper condition and refrain from illegal activities. But, in truth, not all tenants adhere to these terms, and concerns that started on the property can swiftly escalate into legal problems for you.

While, certainly, you are not held responsible for the illegal activities of your tenant, if you figure out that your rental home is being used for unauthorized business activities, your neighbors could potentially hold you on the hook. The outcome of any legal action taken against you will usually lean on your awareness of the issue and the steps you took to deal with it. Being proactive in such situations is essentially important to protecting your interests.

How and When You Knew

In some cases, renters are pretty good at hiding shady activities from their landlords. But, in fact, if you do notice this happening on your rental property, it is primal 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 actually 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 probably hold you liable for any damages.

The Slippery Slope of “Should”

Once in a while, whether you “should” have known about a renter’s illicit activities may turn up. Such as for instance, if you have an idea your renter is self-employed before you offer them a lease, there is some confusion regarding whether or not that means that you should also have assumed they would be conducting that business in the rental home.

Additionally, if your renter had been evicted for rambunctious parties in the past, you may be held accountable since you should have checked with their previous landlord about it. But surely, if you’ve acted upon due diligence and didn’t distinguish any evidence of past problems, that will increase your chances of avoiding liability.

Addressing the Problem

Addressing any problems a renter creates immediately after you know about them is always a good idea. Then again, 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 categorically broken the lease terms, you can’t be held responsible for failing to evict them.

To be certainly liable, you must have the power to outrightly do something on the issue. It needs to be said, the flip side is that if your lease clarifies that you don’t allow noisy parties or business activities and you don’t take action, you might actually be on the hook in a lawsuit

The specific terms and language used in the lease are a vital first step toward holding your tenants accountable for any nuisance or illicit activities. Along with that, taking immediate and appropriate action is likewise pertinent to keeping yourself from being sued by offended neighbors.

Conscientiously screening your renters is another important part of keeping yourself out of unwelcome legal trouble, as is executing regular property evaluations. At Real Property Management Innovation, we do all this for our East Rockaway property owners – and more. Would you like to know more? Just make certain to get in touch with us online or by phone at 516-570-9275 for more useful information.

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