Issues with disruptive tenants in college condo and neighbors

Issues with disruptive tenants in college condo and neighbors

Specialist · Denton, TX · Member since 2018 · 126 posts · 84 votes

My wife and I own a condo in a college town in Utah.  

We have 4 women renting the condo.  Two are students and two are non-students who work in the area. 

One of the non-students and one of the students are roommates and share a room. The other student and non-student have their own private rooms. The non-students are close friends and the students are both close friends.

One of the "non-students" just called to ask how to get out of her contract.  She told us that the students are bringing over guests starting at 10pm and staying until the wee hours of the morning.  They are making a lot of noise and don't allow her to sleep. 

She also told us that one of the student's male friends makes her feel very uncomfortable with vulgar language. 

To add a monkey wrench in the works, the men who live in the next door condo are smoking pot.  She has called the cops on them and it hasn't accomplished much.  We had a previous tenant who also called the police on the next door neighbors for smoking pot. 

We DO NOT want to lose the non-student as a tenant.  Our contract says something boilerplate about tenants can't disrupt the peace of other tenants. 

What should we do about the noise and the annoying visitor?

Do we have a meeting with just the students and give them the "first warning"? Just verbally and tell them that we have mailed something to them?

Should we hire an attorney?

What about the pot-smoking neighbors?  It is still against the law in Utah to smoke pot, by the way. :)

Thanks,
James

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Property Manager · Twin Falls, ID · Member since 2017 · 42 posts · 11 votes
7y

I managed a large complex for many years that was a dormitory style, 6 bedrooms in each unit— I felt like I was putting fires out all the time. Much of my time spent was playing “counselor” to college students. Try not to get caught up in all the extra drama and stick with the facts and address the violations as your lease outlines. I often had to remind tenants (and their helicopter parents) that life is about dealing with people who are different and we don’t always like. As for the violation send a 3 notice to cure and hopefully that gets their attention. 

As for the pot smoking neighbors I'm not sure there is much more you can do if the cops have been notified. Assuming the pot smokers are not your tenants and this condo is owned by someone else maybe reach out to the landlord or HOA?

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  • Rental Property Investor · Corvallis, OR · Member since 2018 · 840 posts · 1k+ votes
    7y
    @James Call does your rental agreement state no smoking ? Also, I would promptly serve them a disturbance voilation or warning. If you dont take action this will only get worse. Also let your favorable non student know you are taking action.
  • Property Manager · Twin Falls, ID · Member since 2017 · 42 posts · 11 votes
    7y

    I managed a large complex for many years that was a dormitory style, 6 bedrooms in each unit— I felt like I was putting fires out all the time. Much of my time spent was playing “counselor” to college students. Try not to get caught up in all the extra drama and stick with the facts and address the violations as your lease outlines. I often had to remind tenants (and their helicopter parents) that life is about dealing with people who are different and we don’t always like. As for the violation send a 3 notice to cure and hopefully that gets their attention. 

    As for the pot smoking neighbors I'm not sure there is much more you can do if the cops have been notified. Assuming the pot smokers are not your tenants and this condo is owned by someone else maybe reach out to the landlord or HOA?

  • Specialist · Denton, TX · Member since 2018 · 126 posts · 84 votes
    7y

    @Shannon M.

    Thanks for that advice.  I think we are going to send that 3 day notice to cure.  We also want to stay out of the counseling business.  

    The neighbors are not our tenants. I will reach out to the owner and let them know and let the HOA know. That is good advice.

    Thanks,
    James

  • Specialist · Denton, TX · Member since 2018 · 126 posts · 84 votes
    7y

    @Todd Powell  I did let the tenant know we are working on it as quickly as we can.  The smokers are not our tenants, but the neighbors.  

    It looks like we will need to send that disturbance warning.  

    Thanks for the advice. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Queens, NY · Member since 2018 · 99 posts · 70 votes
    7y
    @James Call How do you deal with the cleaniness of a bathroom and kitchen etc in a shared room environment? Someone who has a better personal hygiene will complain the one who does not clean up the messes from the use of bathroom or kitchen.
  • Nathan GesnerBusiness Member
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    Real Estate Broker · Cody, WY · Member since 2010 · 28k+ posts · 41k+ votes
    7y

    Educate your tenants. When they smell the neighbors smoking weed, call the cops immediately and let them deal with it. Then have them contact you the following day so you can contact the owner and follow up with them.

    As for the noise, hit them with a noise violation warning. If they do it again, evict.

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  • Member since 2016 · 13k+ posts · 12k+ votes
    7y

    Your tenants co habitational relationships is none of your business. Unless someone out side of your rental unit reports a disturbance there is no disturbance. You are not their parents or a baby sitter.

    Tell the tenant that she can leave when ever she chooses and when she does inform the remaining tenants that they will still be responsible for the entire rent.

    Do not get involved any farther than that, it's not your business...they are all adults.

  • Broker · Logan, UT · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    7y

    I'm not aware of any city in Utah that would allow four unrelated adults in a single unit.

    In my experience, you either rent to undergrads by the bed, have semester contracts, and treat them like kids who are living away from home for the first time in their lives; or rent out the entire unit on a single lease and treat all tenants as a single entity and avoid these internal squabbles.

    The former can be more lucrative but is also more work.

    It sounds to me like you've got a bit of each methods going on which will continue to cause you headaches.

    So any advice would depend on the number of leases you have for the condo.

  • Specialist · Fort Collins, CO · Member since 2018 · 557 posts · 191 votes
    7y

    I worked in student housing, and I would definitely send them a written warning detailing the consequences if the behavior isn't fixed. Unfortunately, in student housing, you often have to play the role of "parent" as well as "roommate mediator." I think taking Shannon's advice as far as notifying the HOA about the neighbors is a great idea. Best of luck!

  • Specialist · Denton, TX · Member since 2018 · 126 posts · 84 votes
    7y

    @Katie Stewart, @Nathan Gesner, @Leo Poon, @William Hochstedler, @Thomas S.,

    Thanks for all of the advice. 

    We spoke to a real estate attorney who is a friend of ours.  We ended up sending them a notice that they were breaking the conditions of their contract and could be evicted for it.  We told them that the person causing problems was no longer allowed on the property. 

    Then we gave the 2 tenants who were getting the letters a phone call.  I told them they would get a letter, that we wanted things to be nice for them, and that if it didn't get taken care of, we would be forced to evict.   The phone call was the good cop, the letter is the bad cop.  

    One of the tenants was very apologetic and nice on the phone call, the other one, not so much.  

    We don't want to babysit, but we also don't want to lose our good tenants.  Our attorney suggested that this would be very effective and if it didn't work out, we just evict the tenants.  

    Thanks again to everyone.  We hope that this chapter is closed. :)

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