Bad neighbors and the slumlord owner next door.

[Account Closed]

I have a rental in a lower income area that has about three quarters of the people living there are related or friends of some sort. This is a nice place to live except the new monsters next door. Next door a nice home was sold to a slumlord, he moved in some woman that is on welfare half the year, has kids from four different men and has a lazy out of work bum of a boyfriend. I know all this because I overheard the woman talking to the owner showing it and thought "well that one is not getting into that house" boy was I wrong!

Long story short they move in, bring four unlicensed dogs that run around pooping in my yard that are not in the lease. ( I promptly called animal control and they captured 3 of them ) They moved in her bum brother and his two brats, also not on the lease and all of those kids are using my front yard as a walkway wearing a path through my nice sod lawn.

I have called this man many times and let him know about his tenants, I have sent him many pictures for proof, I talked to him once and he said he would look into it and now he no longer answers the phone or calls me back! 

These kids constantly throw trash on my property and use it for their playground despite  me telling them and their parents to keep them off. Yesterday they actually told my wife they had no control over what their kids friends did and it wasn't their children yet I have pictures.

Yesterday I was finally fed up, after hearing KGO attorney Len Tillem tell someone with a similar story they could take the owner of the rental home to small claims court and sue for the amount of 7,500 dollars because the tenant is ruining my right "quiet enjoyment" and property damage.

What does everyone else think? I really just want them out of there because it will make renting this home to good people harder. I had a good family lined up that is friends with everyone on the other side of the house but they backed out due to the new tenants next door.

I could put a fence up to stop them from trespassing on my lawn but the garbage in my yard from them and the loudness would not go away. The kids are always screaming and someone is always crying about something loudly. Yesterday i found the kids messing with my trailer trying to work the electric tongue jack. (the power is turned off inside the locked trailer )

I called the landlord and told him last night this was the last time I will call and to remedy the situation or the next he will be hearing from me will be in the form of a summons to small claims court.

I'm thinking of getting the other Neighbors to also file suits at the same time each for 7,500 to sent this slumlord a message since they can no longer enjoy enjoy their front courtyards in the evenings.

Sorry for the rant but their driving me crazy and I'm just their fixing up the place!

[Steve L.]

Jeff I think you are confused on a landlords job and people on welfare.

A landlords job is not to be a babysitter or politician. Our job is to find someone who takes care of the property and pay rent. Them creating as little work for me as possible (not having an angry neighbor call me every day) is important too but mostly because I don't want to be bothered.

If someone is on welfare it doesn't make them a bad person or disqualify them as a tenant (at least in my world). It sounds like you have judged the person mostly on that basis.

I wish you luck. I'm glad you built that fence, now it sounds like time to find some other hobbies.