Tenant's Complaint About Other Tenant - Landlord Forum thread 268932

Tenant's Complaint About Other Tenant by Anonymous on October 14, 2012 @05:53

I have a tenant in an apartment complex that has made a written statement against another tenant. The complaint is 1) other tenant’s television is too loud throughout the day and after 10:00 PM, and 2) tenant smokes within less than 20 feet of the apartment building.

I want to send a written notice to the other tenant informing him about the complaint against him. I want to be very careful with my wording since I have not actually verified that the complaints are legitimate; I have not heard the noise myself or seen anybody smoking.

What wording should I use? I don’t want the other tenant to feel as if he is being accused of anything but I feel it is my duty to address issues brought forth by all tenants.

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Re: Tenant's Complaint About Other Tenant by Katiekate (New York) on October 14, 2012 @08:29	[ Reply ]

I would avoid this. The complaining tenant seems to have some sort of a campaign against the other tenant and is going to use you to further his harassment...don't do it. If the tenant has the TV up during the day...there isn't any law that says he can't. If it is too loud at night..then the complaining tenant should call the police and have them deal with disturbing the peace...(I suspect it isn't). smoking out side? really..the tenant feels that he has to measure how far away the smoking is happening? really? Do you define this? You can say you can't smoke on the property..but..you can't tell them they cannot smoke on the sidewalk or any other public place. You can only insist they dispose of the butts properly...even that..on public property you cannot enforce. If this were me..I would avoid this whole thing. This is petty stuff.

Re: Tenant's Complaint About Other Tenant

Re: Tenant's Complaint About Other Tenant by Anonymous on October 14, 2012 @09:18	[ Reply ]

Since you have not verified if the complaints are legitimate, I would just send a generalized letter to ALL tenants reminding them of the smoking guidelines on the property. Be specific as to where the property ends if you do not allow it outside withing property lines. As to the noise, excessive noise during the day can be a violation of the lease. Your lease might have a quiet enjoyment clause which covers both day or night. Blasting the TV or music to concert level during the day is not acceptable. We had a tenant that did this to the point the floors and objects on tables were shaking. We called the police and they were giving a warning and then a citation/summons when they continued to do it. But it has to be excessive. Hearing the murmur of the TV is not excessive. Excessive is when you feel you are in the room with the TV and can hear every sigh the program makes. The letter can be as start along the lines of "Management has recently received several queries from tenants regarding smoking on the property and excessive noise...."and take it from there. No one specific gets called out.

Re: Tenant's Complaint About Other Tenant by MrDan (Georgia) on October 14, 2012 @10:14	[ Reply ]

You really shoud think hard on solving the complaint. As to the secondhand smoke, ask yourself how exposed you are to claims of secondhand smoke. Hopefully you have a policy on smoking. Check your insurance policy, because such claims are not covered under the polution exclusion. Secondhand smoke is a serious concern for landlords now days, a claim of secondhand smoke would involve negliglence, harrasment, breach of the law of quiet enjoyment, breach of stautory duty to keep the premise habitable. Non smokers have won damages for secondhand smoke against landlords. Many find that their insurance provider does not cover the claim. It makes sense for a landlord to have a policy in their lease where smoking is allowed or not at all. As to the loud TV, you should address this as well by issuing a reminder letter to all tenants about disturbing other tenants. Tenants have a right to enjoy their rental in peace. Your legal resposibility is to ensure that happens to the most part. No one, including other tenants have the right to disturb other tenants at any time. Failing to address this issue and ignoring it can lead to more conflicts and complaints, which leaves the landlord losing tenants, losing money and posible in court defending themselves. Can you be sued for your tenants secondhand smoke? Yes, you can. What is your State? Many have laws which cover no smoking in public areas.

Re: Tenant's Complaint About Other Tenant

smoking outside

Re: smoking outside

Re: Tenant's Complaint About Other Tenant by Anna Mouse on October 14, 2012 @13:26	[ Reply ]

I agree someone may be hoping to use you as a pawn in their little game. I would stay as far away from this as possible until you have facts. Could not agree more with Katie! Even sending out the letter is in a way harassement if you do not know the truth of things. Take a step back and see what you notice. These people are living in an apartment complex and should expect to have a bit more interaction, noise and all the things that go with this type of living.

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Re: Thanks Mr Dan and Emma by Jax (Fl) on October 16, 2012 @12:00	[ Reply ]

Thank you ! Second hand smoke is not ok. Thank you for posting lawss pertaining to such. I appreciated your responses.

Re: Tenant's Complaint About Other Tenant by Joe on October 18, 2012 @22:01	[ Reply ]

Talk about bad advice. Ignoring a problem is never an optimal way to run your business. There is such a thing as quiet enjoyment which tenants have a right and responsibility to in just about every jurisdiction. If you have a tenant who is breaching that and you do nothing after being informed, a court may find that you breached your contract with the tenants who are bringing up the issue. As for the smoking issue, the legal trend against environmental tobacco smoke has been quite clear in recent years. Courts and statues have been coming up against it more and more as time progresses. It's in your best interest to always address complaints brought to your attention. Even if the complaints become excessive or are in bad faith, address them as such. My advice would be to first have a verbal discussion with the other tenant to gather more details which you can use to make a decision on how to proceed. It never hurts to follow-up with written communication but some informal discussion sends the signal to your tenant that you are actively engaged in the property's best interest while not seeming cold and robotic.