One Tenant Pulled a Gun on Another. What Would You Do?

Question

I recently bought a duplex with one inherited tenant with a lease through May 31 and the other side vacant. The vacant side tenant moved in a few days ago, but there was already an incident (duh, you've read the title!).

As my management company described it to me, the new tenant's girlfriend (not on the lease) went for a walk, cut across the backyard on her way back, where she was confronted by the tenant on the inherited side for trespassing. I'm assuming they had never met. The inherited tenant pulled a gun, but there was no violence thankfully. A police report was filed by the new tenant.

It should be noted the inherited tenant's lease with his previous manager is extremely loose with the language regarding keeping the peace, but I do think there's enough to file a 30 days to vacate notice if we wanted to. I don't really know if that is the prudent move since the tenant could trash the place or force an eviction, but I am admittedly worried about another incident potentially occurring at some point before the old tenant's lease expires in May. My property manager wants to send a sternly worded warning and see if there is any backlash. What do you guys think?

I do worry about if I have any liability as well. My home insurance policy has $500k personal liability coverage, but does anyone think I should get an umbrella policy on top of that to cover potential future liability?

Account Closed · Answer

Call the tenant and say "I hear there was a little mis-understanding the other day, can you tell me what happened?" Let him give his side of the story so that he feels he's been heard and understood and then just say "Got it, I'm glad there won't be any problems going forward, because I like keeping you as a tenant. Thanks for your cooperation." "Let me know if you need anything".

With that, drop it. Let the police report play out, which can take a year if the prosecutor decides it's worth pursuing. He's on notice and it will be easier to get rid of him going forward if you don't lay too heavily on him now.

Ryan Avila · Answer

What do you mean when you say they "pulled" a gun? Did they actually point the gun at someone or did they just have it on their person?

Does this area have a history of trespassing/property crime/theft?

"Just to be clear there was nobody actually trespassing. The tenants girlfriend just went for a walk across the backyard, which is common ground at the property. The other tenant saw them walking and that’s when they came out with a gun. Obviously they didn’t know this was the tenants girlfriend but that’s still no excuse."

Did the inherited tenant know that nobody was actually trespassing? Because from their response, it would seem as though they believed someone was trespassing. If you looked outside into your backyard and you saw a girl you had never seen before walking through your backyard, would you just assume its a neighbor and not someone trespassing?

Still no excuse? Actually, just so that you are aware, in most of the country outside of metropolitan areas, this would be more then an excuse to confront someone with a firearm. In many areas this is a normal response to seeing someone you do not know walking around your house.

The point I am getting at is, maybe try to understand the other perspective before just blindly siding with the tenants who were probably frightened at the sight of a firearm. One thing you can count on though, the girlfriend will think twice before walking across that backyard again. Neighbor scoreboard: Inherited tenant - 1 New tenant - 0

Bjorn Ahlblad · Answer

@Jason L. I would personally not get involved; let the police and the PM handle it. When I had a PM I did not know who my tenants were-no need. As for liability insurance 500k won't get you very far these days. Doubling that is not too expensive.

I would tell the PM to work out a plan to replace that tenant at the earliest opportunity. Pulling a gun on someone needs considerably more forethought than your tenant is capable of.

I do not tell my tenants to not have firearms or to have them. A couple of my tenants are retired LEO; I hope they have firearms.

Sonia Auchmoody · Answer

I guess these tenants watched a lot of action movies. It's sad; it's indeed sad that happened. I wonder if there exists a legal mechanism to solve this tension quickly. You never know what's in one's mind and how he'll react to your attempts to solve put this conflict. And gun advertisement is everywhere, and people purchase them too quickly. Recently, I don't know how and why I received this advertisement https://ballachy.com/best-bowh... on my Facebook page. The authorities should take concrete actions in this direction! In your case, I guess that they should solve it! They're getting paid for this!

Joe Splitrock · Answer

There is a lot of crazy crap going on right now around the country. When strangers show up in your yard, some people may pull a gun. Have the PM talk with them about what happened. The tenant should apologize to the new tenant and the girlfriend. If it was a case of the inherited tenant just looking out for the property, hopefully the new tenant can appreciate they are trying to protect the property. If two tenants can't work it out, the situation is likely to get worse. Have the PM try to mediate it and smooth the situation. Without knowing the people involved, it is hard to say how anyone will react.

In the future, I would encourage new tenants to introduce themselves to the neighbors.

Michael Noto · Answer

Let the police handle it and tell your property manager to do the same. The worst thing you could do as a landlord is take sides in a situation like this because the reality is you are getting one side of the story.

Jason L. · Answer

I have a property management company who will do all this, but basically I agree with your plan. However I am worried about my liability if another incident that was more serious occurred, which is why we’re also considering enforcing the leases code of conduct.

Jason L. · Answer

Just to be clear there was nobody actually trespassing. The tenants girlfriend just went for a walk across the backyard, which is common ground at the property. The other tenant saw them walking and that’s when they came out with a gun. Obviously they didn’t know this was the tenants girlfriend but that’s still no excuse.

Theresa Harris · Answer

What are the local laws regarding guns and trespassing?  What kind of neighbourhood is it?  Tell both tenants to respect each other's space and make sure they know each other.  A high crime area where you have a stranger trespassing make evoke a strong response.

One Tenant Pulled a Gun on Another. What Would You Do?

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