Unsupervised Minors left alone in rented unit

[Account Closed]

A rather scary incident today at one of my units. A neighbor came up to me while I was inspecting another unit and was concerned about the noise coming from a different unit. We knocked on the door and a 12 year old answered told us that there were 4 children in the unit, the oldest was 13 and they had been left alone for more than 6 hours.

We did not enter the unit, but it was clear that this is a bad situation that is too dangerous to ignore.

As there is no law regarding minimum age of unattended minors in this area, it seems to be a grey area.

The tenants are new and under a short-term lease. When asked about the minors being alone, they felt there was nothing wrong with the situation.

I am considering informing them that the lease will not be renewed, waiving all penalties for an early lease termination, and offering them a cash incentive to leave early on a sliding scale with the highest offer for ASAP.

Any thoughts?

[Nathan Gesner]

Quote from @Account Closed:

A rather scary incident today at one of my units. A neighbor came up to me while I was inspecting another unit and was concerned about the noise coming from a different unit. We knocked on the door and a 12 year old answered told us that there were 4 children in the unit, the oldest was 13 and they had been left alone for more than 6 hours.

We did not enter the unit, but it was clear that this is a bad situation that is too dangerous to ignore.

As there is no law regarding minimum age of unattended minors in this area, it seems to be a grey area.

The tenants are new and under a short-term lease. When asked about the minors being alone, they felt there was nothing wrong with the situation.

I am considering informing them that the lease will not be renewed, waiving all penalties for an early lease termination, and offering them a cash incentive to leave early on a sliding scale with the highest offer for ASAP.

Any thoughts?

Contact the Department of Family Services and ask the question of them.

However, is this a realistic concern? I know some 12-year-olds that are mature enough they could be trusted to stay home all day because they know how to feed themselves, protect themselves, what to do in an emergency, etc. Why would you assume that kids of this age are somehow in danger?

My only verifiable concern is that they haven't been taught not to open the door for strangers.