Can you put legal pressure on a neighboring landlord to evict

Question

The absentee owner of the building next to ours hired a bad property manager, and his tenants have cost us $$$ because they vandalized our property and ruined our Airbnb business because guests do not feel safe anymore.  I am wondering if anyone has any suggestions on how I could put legal pressure on the landlord next door to dump his property manager and evict the tenants?   That would bring peace back into the neighborhood.

Sean H. · Answer

Why not just offer the landlord to buy the house? I may not get something at a great deal, but sometimes its a lot cheaper in the long run.

John Underwood · Answer

I think you need to take action against the tenants that are vandalizing properties. Set up some security cameras.

You could also sell and buy in a better area.

Theresa Harris · Answer

If they vandalized the property, press charges.

You could also contact the owner and offer to buy the place.

Wayne Brooks · Answer

“Legal action against the landlord for crappy tenants”.....no.

Against the tenants themselves, yes...with proof.

James Mc Ree · Answer

Consult an attorney. You might not have a strong case to actually sue the property manager or owner, but a "cease and desist"-type letter from your attorney threatening a lawsuit due to your lost business might be the spark they need to care. The attorney could evaluate the strength of your position and the letter could be a really cheap solution that avoids a lawsuit.

Tim Miller · Answer

@Matt Fischer I'm not sure why people are soooo afraid to confront a problem head on. Yes, you can sue the landlord and include the property manager. Not sure what part of Maryland you are talking about but there is a law regarding the "Enjoyment of Peace and Quit" of your property. If you are having these issue, than the other neighbors are as well. Try to reach out to some of the neighbors to see if any agree with you and work with them. Than, send a letter to the owner and property manager stating, they have to resolve this issue or you will sue them because you can not Peacefully and Quietly enjoy your home.

If this property is in a town/city contact the local council member and get them to help. We had a rental property across the street from us and the landlord didn't care who he put in there. You have the money, here's the keys. We told him to get rid of these tenants and put in respectful tenants or else we would make his life living hell. We would call the city, call the county, hire a lawyer and sue. We told him, instead of death by a thousand cuts. We would cause him death by a thousand complaints to the city & county and we would keep file one law suit after another. (that is the short version)

Guess what happen? Yup, two weeks later and the tenants were moving out. Now we have new tenants in that house that our whole neighborhood loves. Good Luck and Happy New Years!

Tom Gimer · Answer

@Matt Fischer Research state and local nuisance laws.

Matt Fischer · Answer

Update part two:  Thank you everyone for your advice.  At the end of the month, I will be heading out to MD for my first time since Covid hit to check on the properties.  @Tim Miller @Cordell Martin

@Sean H. @James Mc Ree  Thank you all for your advice,  I will look into all those options. I will also work on doing an audit of the street and see if I can get other neighbors on my side.  Sadly our tenant is moving out because of the problems, but I am going to look into all options to return peace to the street.  I am also going to reach out to the Homeowner and insist he changes property managers ( I have a recommendation of a great property manager) as a backup to see if he is willing to sell, and then my final backup is to have an attorney get involved.   Thanks again for all your great advice.

Cordell Martin · Answer

@Matt Fischer some cities/municipalities have a quality of life ordinance in which you can report (anonymously sometimes) violations such as trash left out, visible exterior repairs which are unsightly or dangerous (inadequately repaired balconies, etc).

Matt Fischer · Answer

Thank you everyone for your suggestions.  Here is a little more about the story.  In March we got a call from my neighbor saying a bunch of kids are in our Airbnb house.  We obtained a video from Snapchat of the minors in the house.  They did $3K damage.  6 months later the Juniniles were tried, slap on the wrist.  We got $187 in restitution from the Maryland courts.  These same kids (2 of which live in the house from the landlord who doesn't care) have cause multiple scares for our guest in the Airbnb, with Decembers guest leaving after 2 days of a month-long booking, where we lost another 1800, which this is not the first time we have had long term guest check out after a day or two in the last few months.  For the previous 5 years, we did very well with this Airbnb.  Two of the minors took things too far and now are in Juvenile detention 100 miles away.  I understand a lot of this is from covid kids out of school etc, but it's sad to see the street I cleaned up 9 years ago go downhill.

@Therese - Great Idea to contact the owner that would clean things up

@ Christine  Thank you- Our neighbor runs an Airbnb across the street and he put up cameras 3 months ago that has helped, we have started compiling records of the incidents.

@ Damasco Thank you- I am going to look into a community-oriented policing program, we only have 3 small downtown streets to protect, they are blocked by land barriers from the rest of the town.  Yes, they are criminal in nature, but with catch and release Juveniles, they need a lot of marks against them before they are sent to Juvenile detention. (which the group is being thinned out slowly)

@Wayne thank you, we do have proof of misdeeds from the tenant's juvenile kids.

@ John - Thanks for your input.  Sell and buy in a better area might be the solution. We have actually started investing in another state for that reason.

Any other input is appreciated, I'll send an update once we figure things out.   I hope you all have a very Happy New Year.

Can you put legal pressure on a neighboring landlord to evict

Most Popular Reply