Neighbor Says my Tenant is Berating Her and Her Son

[Scott Trench]

A neighbor near a duplex that I own has called me twice now to tell me that my tenant is berating her and her son in the street, yelling obscenities and just going off.

I am not this neighbor’s landlord.

After the first time this happened, I called my tenant and explained that it was inappropriate for him to be screaming and cursing out the neighbors, regardless of their behavior (sounded like the other party did SOMETHING to tick him off both times).

Well, today I get another text from this neighbor telling me that my tenant is just going off inappropriately. I have no proof of what is happening here, but tend to believe the neighbor when she says my tenant is acting inappropriately.

My conundrum is that I don’t know why remedy I have here. Both incidents may have involved my tenant screaming at this lady and her son at that top of his lungs, but they are he said she said incidents, during daytime hours, and I think there’s a flimsy case at best that he is in violation of any noise clauses in my lease.

The neighbor is telling me to do something about this. I feel bad for her and suspect that my tenant is indeed behaving poorly. I also feel that there’s nothing I can do, short of waiting until the lease is up and factor this into the decision whether to renew.

Any advice?

[Tchaka Owen]

@Scott Trench - your tenant is not your child and since this is post-1865, it is highly unlikely that the tenants are under your servitude. In other words, the neighbor needs to involve the police, not you. It is ok for them to notify you of what's going on (if I were you, I'd appreciate that gesture), however enforcement is not in your court. The exception is if you have proof of tenant doing something in violation of lease. My recommendation is that you advise the neighbor to call the police the next time it happens.