Neighbors, officials have little clout

Q:

A couple years ago the duplex next to my house in a nice residential neighborhood was sold to an absentee landlord. Tenants have ranged from noisy, drugged out teenagers to screaming drunken adults. Cops have been there several times, and there was an article in the paper about a drug raid there.

The property looks terrible and there are several vehicles parked all over the lawn and coming and going at all hours. I have several questions:

1) Can the landlord be held liable for his tenants, particularly for drug dealing or any drug-related crimes?

2) Is there any legal means to warn the landlord about the situation with tenants and the poor condition of the property?

3) Is it possible to pressure the landlord to better screen his tenants and to keep the property up to neighborhood standards, or to sell it?

4) Can we go to the local or state authorities to ask them to pressure the landlord?

5) How do we find out more about the drug raid that took place and the status of the case?

A:

You’ve raised some good questions. Let me answer them in order.

1) Landlords are generally not liable for the illegal activities of tenants unless they have actual knowledge of such activities and actively condone them. Unfortunately, there is a very fine line about what type of conduct constitutes “condoning.”

Short of actually participating in these activities, the absentee landlord would probably be able to assert ignorance about the activities of his tenants, even following a police raid and/or notice from a concerned neighbor.

2) Any police raids at the property are public knowledge. Most likely the police notified the landlord of the raid. As a concerned neighbor you could also call or write the landlord about the deteriorating condition of the property or about the questionable activities of tenants.

However, you should be very careful to avoid harassing either the landlord or tenants. If the condition of the property becomes unsafe or unsanitary, you could contact the local building inspector or board of health and ask them to look into the matter. Those authorities would then notify the landlord about the dangerous conditions. 

3) As a general rule, it is difficult for neighbors to pressure a landlord to rent only to a special group of people, to supervise the activities of tenants or to sell a property.

It is also difficult, unless the property is dangerous or unsanitary, to force a landlord to repair and keep up the property (paint, mow the lawn, etc.) to “neighborhood standards.”

4) Again, absent illegal activities, or unsafe or unsanitary conditions, both local and state authorities are limited in their ability to force a landlord to choose certain tenants. 

5) If you know the approximate date of the raid, and/or the parties involved, you can probably contact or visit the district court which handled the case and examine the District Court records. These records are public knowledge.