Drug Dealing, Injuries, and Theft!

If a landlord wants to avoid lawsuits, which is every landlord, it is vital they know a bit of state law. There is a mountain of potential liabilities in most states that some landlords are not aware of. A landlord that has not taken the appropriate steps to comply with state regulations could jeopardize their business, their tenants, and the surrounding neighbors. Every landlord needs to recognize their responsibilities and take preventative actions to potentially dangerous situations.

Tenant dealing illegal drugs

Did you know that if one of your tenants is involved in any sort of criminal activity while in your property, you could be held responsible? It's true. The majority of the time, criminal acts involve a tenant dealing drugs out of the house. If anyone is injured due to a tenant's misconduct, the landlord could be sued for managing a rental property that constitutes a public nuisance and threatens public safety and morals. The landlord could also be fined and be charged with a criminal offense if the landlord knowingly let the activities go on. On top of being sued, fined, and penalized, the value of your rental property will sink like a rock. These consequences are fairly consistent throughout most states. Keep in mind though, some states have additional laws that could be devastating to your property. Colorado just passed a law stating that if methamphetamine has been used in a property, it is automatically considered a meth lab. In this case, you would have to pay a haz-mat company to abate the property costing thousands of dollars. In some severe cases, the property may be too heavily contaminated and will be bulldozed to the ground! Make sure you know your state laws! Know every risk and consequence of housing a criminal tenant and take every precautionary measure to avoid such situations.

So how can you keep a drug dealer out of your rental? There are a few tricks you can use to identify and keep out these unwanted criminals. The best deterrent for a drug dealer is not accepting cash payments for rent. Most of the money a drug dealer earns will normally stay out of bank accounts because they want their flow of income to be undetectable. Be suspicious of an unusual amount of traffic coming into and out of the property. State in the rental agreement that drug dealing or criminal activity is prohibited while in the property. Also state that any tenant convicted of criminal acts inside the property will be immediately evicted. The best sources to use if you have any suspicion about the tenant are the neighbors. Ask them if they are aware of any drug dealing taking place in the house. To keep criminals out of your rentals, learn the proper way to screen tenants. For more information on how to screen tenants read ‘How to screen for qualified tenants'.

Tenant injury

The most common way a landlord can be held liable for a tenant injury is if the injury was caused by a maintenance problem on the property that the landlord knew about and neglected to fix. There needs to be sufficient evidence to prove:

•a) The landlord knew about the problem for a period of time

•b) The landlord did not take any sort of action to fix the problem

•c) The problem would not have been overly expensive to fix

•d) The tenant was legitimately injured.

A landlord is also liable if he/she should have known about a problem but was unaware due to lack of routine inspections. For example, if there is some electrical wiring that needs fixing in an old house that the landlord was unaware of and a tenant gets shocked and injured. Because landlords are expected to have routine inspections for problems like electrical wiring, he/she would be liable.

Criminal acts

Landlords are some what responsible for the safety of their tenants; this includes protecting them from outside criminals. The liability mostly depends on the context of the situation. If the property has had a past history of break-ins, assaults, or other criminal acts, there is a higher chance that the landlord would be responsible. Luckily for landlords, there are steps that can be taken to prevent criminal acts of non tenants and avoid liability. First and foremost, make certain your property is within state regulations of home security. Install deadbolt locks on your doors and locks for all windows. If your property is in a dangerous neighborhood, let your tenants know and take some additional precautions. Install sensor house lights or start a community watch in the neighborhood. The more steps a landlord has taken to ensure the safety of the tenants, the less likely they would be liable for any law suit that may arise.

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