Domestic Disturbance--when to cal the POPO?

[Marc Winter]

For all landlords and property managers:  This is an email we received from a tenant in a duplex we manage:

"Fighting and screaming in upstairs apartment. This has gone on since we moved in and we have tried to ignore it but this is beyond ignoring anymore. Screaming and swearing at each other almost daily and again last night and this morning. We don't pay rent to have to listen to vulgar swearing and fighting all the time."

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How we responded,

Dear Xxxx,

Thank you for bringing this to our attention. This type of domestic disturbance is often a precursor to actual domestic violence. As such, it should be reported to the police, and if possible, reported during the actual disturbance.

We would ask you to keep a written log of the date and time of this type of occurrence for our records in the event of court action.

We will send all tenants a written reminder of noise restrictions as per the lease.

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How would you respond?

[Nathan Gesner]

1. Instruct the reporting tenant to call the police next time it happens and every time it happens.

2. Notify the offending neighbors that their fights are extremely disturbing to the other tenants. They need to quiet down or move out. If there is another formal complaint, I will evict them.