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Should You Call the Authorities on Your Troublesome Tenants?

Pineville Police Officers with Cruisers Outside a Residential HomeFor single-family rental home investors in Pineville, painstakingly screening your tenants is one of the best ways to mitigate future problems. Except the certainty is that regardless of your serious efforts, there’s still a scope that you will come across a problem tenant or two. If matters between you and your tenant do go irredeemably wrong, you may wonder whether it is appropriate to call the police on your tenant. Before you get on the phone, on the other hand, you must identify some of the principal differences between standard laws and landlord/tenant laws.

In certain states, tenants have certain protections granted to them by law. This connotes that if you defy a tenant’s rights, even if you sense it’s just right in doing so, you might see yourself the one in trouble with the law rather than of your tenant. For instance, you might assume that a tenant who stays too long is legally trespassing on your property and can be removed by the police. Unfortunately, this is not the situation.

Once you’ve rented a property to a tenant, the cops bear no authority to remove them from the property. This is because you have given up certain rights to the property while it is occupied by the tenant. This is real even if their lease has expired and you have requested that they vacate the property. On such occasions, regular trespassing laws do not apply. Just to make the tenant vacate the property, you will be compelled to legally evict them by securing a court order.

One more key difference within standard laws and landlord/tenants laws concern how and when you can penetrate a leased property, or give permission for other people to do so. In most states, landlord/tenant laws require property owners to give advance notice before entering an occupied rental home. Unplanned and unannounced visits are typically illegal, no matter the reason. This same fundamental concerns police officers and others who may require admission to the rental house.

Under standard laws, the property owner is the one who has the authority to grant access to the property. However, tenant/landlord laws offer this right to the tenant. During most conditions, landlords do not bear the authority to invite the police or anyone else into the property sans the tenant’s permission. The one exception to this rule is in an emergency situation, police or emergency personnel may legally enter the rental house if someone inside is in dire need of assistance.

Despite these protections, however, there may be times when calling the police on your tenant is necessary. For example, if you encounter a situation that you feel is putting anyone in danger, it may be time to call the police. Being a property owner, most misunderstandings can be settled in a masterful and obliging method. But if you ever sense that your personal safety or that of your tenant, a neighbor, or someone else is under risk, contact the proper authorities.

The same thing is real if you realize that your tenant is involved in criminal activity. Landlord/tenant laws do not protect tenants from being held accountable for their illegal activities. If you have the motivation to assume that the tenant is entangled in an incident such as illegal drug use or distribution, or any other clear violations of both your lease and the law, it is time to contact the authorities and tell them what you know. They can then get you to protect the property under local laws. Just keep in mind that criminal charges, if present, are distinctive from the legal process of eviction. Even if your tenant is under arrest or sent to jail, you will still be required to go through the full eviction process to regain control of your rental property. Being arrested does not adjust your tenant’s rights to occupy the property as stated under the landlord/tenant law.

Even though no property landlord would wish a leasing affair to end up horribly, it is worthy to be advised and organized just in case. Tenant relations can be a challenge and are customarily one of the most onerous attributes of a landlord’s attributes. But assistance is available.

Real Property Management Charlotte Metro can back property owners with all facets of tenant dealings. Our Pineville property management professionals will work with your tenants, handling any miserable conditions that may develop. This will withhold your time and, as they say, time is money. To learn more, contact us online or call us at 704-919-1344
for more information.

 

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