TENANT BOLTED, LEFT GAS STOVE RUNNING WITHOUT FLAME

[Nick K.]

Where to begin…

I ended up with a nightmare tenant, despite screenings. She consistently paid rent late, had an illegal guest for the better part of several weeks, damaged the property, disturbed the neighborhood and refused to let me into the property to do regular maintenance/repairs. I have extensive documentation of all of this. I’ve also recently discovered that her previous “landlord” reference was actually her friend in disguise.

As if that weren’t enough, she moved out abruptly and broke the lease about halfway through. I can see the silver lining of having her gone, but I am out this month’s rent, and the damage to the unit will probably eat up most of the security deposit. I have formally asked her to pay the current month’s rent plus any rent until I can find a replacement tenant. If she refuses, I’m prepared to take her to small claims court.

Now, the main question. She emailed me suddenly that she had moved out. I went to the property and found the gas stove running without a flame. It appeared to have been running for several hours, if not days. The smell was so bad, I could smell it from outside. I have reason to believe that if I had unwittingly created a spark or open flame, I could have inadvertently blown up the house and been severely injured, if not worse. Her son also startled me when I did the walkthrough because he appeared out of nowhere. He seems to have been living there. (Yes, it is as odd as it sounds). He is not on the lease.

Do I have any legal recourse regarding the gas being left on? Am I crazy for being so upset? It seems highly suspicious. Especially, after stumbling upon this new story: https://www.wfmz.com/news/area/lehighvalley/man-charged-after-ditching-rental-leaving-gas-stove-burning-for/article_92cb5478-f120-11e9-a4a4-c3b06a8fbd74.html

Substitute “dog” with “son” and the situations are very similar.