how much do I disclose to potential tenants abt house's history?

Question

I purchased a run-down rooming house that had questionable tenants in it. After all the tenants left either by eviction or on their own I renovated the house into very nice apartments. After a fairly anal screening process, I have new tenants moving in, in the next few weeks. They are both from out of town & don't know the history of the house (lots of drugs & other nonsense). My house got egged the other day (I suspect from a former tenant that now lives just down the road & has been able to monitor the progress we've made). A full dozen eggs all over the front of my house. Gross. Really smells bad after a few days of hot sun.

My question is: do I tell my new tenants that we have screened & are really excited about? I want them to feel safe, but not freak them out when they are just moving in. Basically, everyone knows except them. One other existing tenant obviously knows & will possibly/likely tell them. Just curious on how to tell these young ladies (approx. 25 & 28 yrs old).

I'd appreciate your feedback.

Thomas S. · Answer

You tell them nothing. Landlords are not responsible for divulging the back ground on every tenant that has occupied the property. The property is rented as is not as it was. If after they move in they mention what they have heard take ownership and relay to them how proud you are of the turn around effort you put into the property. This is a positive story not a negative one. Don't continue it's negative history with tales of th epast.

Ralph Noack · Answer

Cameras are certainly a good option that I will be looking into. Marc Roth, I like what you have said.

Marc Roth · Answer

I always take the attitude unlike our friend here Michale Plante to treat others like I want to be treated. It’s probably not illegal in any way not to tell them however from a moral and ethics point of view it shows who you are as a person. Two young girls entering a new area with no knowledge of a possible security issue should be aware. I would install some cameras and some type of security. You have the repsosibility since you already know by using some common sense regardless of what Michael said that it’s them. They are watching and you know it. What if this were your kids? I would guarantee that if something were to happen think about how you’re going to react when you find out the owner knew all about the issues. Then he or she didn’t say a word or take any precautions because they want a paying tenant? What kind of person does that? And that’s exactly how some judge might find it if you find yourself in court or something worse like they get hurt. You’re now responsible for putting your pocketbook before their safety. Your property so do what u want with it but you have to decide what kind of landlord you’re going to be.

JD Martin · Answer

Well, if the place used to be rough, and there are tenants there that remember that, it's not going to be any secret so you bring it to light on the front end so as to disarm the power of that knowledge. There's nothing wrong with saying "This used to be a rough place but we really spent a lot of time and effort fixing it up nice." If that is true, the other tenants are only going to confirm that for you; if it's not true, then the place is still rough and the landlord is probably being somewhat dishonest portraying it otherwise. I would also be curious to know how the current owner knows about the drug use, etc. Was it going on after he bought, or was it something he heard from the guy he bought it from or the other tenants?

JD Martin · Answer

Tell them what? That your house got egged or that the place they're moving into used to be a rough place? When you say " everyone else knows", I assume you mean all the other people that live there know it used to be a rough place. Given that, I don't think there was any harm at the front end when they were looking in telling them that you put in a lot of hard work cleaning the place up and leaving it at that. Now that they are already moving in, surely you're not suggesting that you are going to proactively go find them and tell them "Hey, this used to be a really bad place." That would be seriously weird. In any case, everyone is responsible for themselves. If someone asked me something specific, I would be honest, but it,'s not my job to make subjective observations to tenants, especially after the fact. The tenants could have made a 30 second phone call to the police who would tell them their impression of the place.

John M. · Answer

@Ralph Noack You don't mention what the area or neighborhood around the house is like, but assuming the neighborhood might attract similar residents to your previous occupants, do you feel it is your responsibility to disclose that the neighborhood is "rough", "sketchy", "dodgy", or can they see that for themselves? If so, could a reasonable person deduce that possibly the previous occupants in your property might be of similar character to the surrounding neighborhood? Just something else to consider, but renters move into apartments, houses, condos etc all the time without any knowledge of who lived there before or what they did. As @Thomas S. mentioned, is it reasonable to expect the landlord to give a full history of a property's past occupants to prospective tenants? If so, how far back should they go, and what exactly should they disclose about those occupants? That said, I personally want my own tenants to feel safe so I have security systems installed that I include with the rent. I don't offer that to release me from some sort of liability if something bad happens, I do that because I genuinely don't want anything bad to happen to them. But there's also only so much I can do, tenants also need to do their part to ensure their own safety. I would say if disclosure and/or installing some security helps you sleep better at night it might the right thing for you to do. Then just take it as a lesson learned for the future.

Ralph Noack · Answer

@Dennis M. There is nothing wrong with having some reasonable amount of concern for your tenant. They are my clients. Not just people that I take money from. Word gets around regardless of how you treat your tenants. I hear all sorts of horror stories about landlords from people coming to view our apartments. We are being watched and our behaviours & how we treat our tenants helps to develop your reputation. I have another business & I treat those clients with the utmost respect. In the end, it turns out that a vast majority of my business comes by word of mouth. People love being treated really well.

Dennis M. · Answer

@Ralph Noack All I can say is you have much to learn Ralph If you are worried about people’s feelings and not your own in this business it’s going to be a tough land lordIng career for you . Your offering a service . It is their responsibility to survey the neighborhood and do their homework on the property and area . You act like a family was slaughtered in the house or something !

Ralph Noack · Answer

JD Martin (Moderator) - Rental Property Investor from Northeast, TNreplied about 18 hours agoI would also be curious to know how the current owner knows about the drug use, etc. Was it going on after he bought, or was it something he heard from the guy he bought it from or the other tenants?My response:Unfortunately, I inherited a handful of bad apple tenants. It was very evident when I purchased the house that the current renters were using & dealing a lot of drugs in the house. The cops were there sometimes 3x a week for one reason or another. One tenant used & offered to me; Said he had medical use marijuana. Maybe he did, maybe not. Doesn't matter, He's gone. However, my concern is for tenant safety, & to make sure that they feeling secure. I should be able to provide that. If I can ask them to be proactive in how they go about living there, that's probably a good thing. If I sold you a car that had a slow leak in a tire, I'd tell you so you could keep an eye out for it & not just drive obliviously. Maybe not a perfect example, but I hope you get the idea.

Marc Roth · Answer

It’s good to see some people most importantly @Ralph Noack see the point and responsibility you have no only as a landlord but as a human being. And so what if they “Get scared off”? You get another tenant and do the right thing by being proactive and honest. It also protects yourself in dictating what you know. If something were to occur at the very least you did the right thing. I could never forgive myself if something were to happen and i did nothing about it. Clearly others here see their tenants and their responsibilitoes as people as just a dollar sign. I’ll let those actions speak for themselves. If that were my kids though I would eventually find out the truth and come after them with all the legal means available. Guarantee to be a local new report and all over the web. Then let’s see how the that kind landlords rentals go.