Eviction for continually allowing violent boyfriend in building?

Question

My daughter is currently residing in my upstairs unit, along with a roommate. The roommate has a scheduled surgery for a dislocated shoulder, I was told the boyfriend pushed the roommate out of a moving vehicle. I told the roommate that the boyfriend could not be on the premises. My daughter went out of town and her roommate immediately had the boyfriend over. I warned that if this man is let into the building again, that will be the end of the rental agreement. The other evening, I came home and heard the boyfriend beating up the roommate. I went upstairs and broke it up. I offered to call police to press charges, roommate declined. I escorted the boyfriend out and told him I would call the police if I see him on the property again. The next morning, I put a 30 day notice under the door. Tonight, the boyfriend came over again and I wouldn't let him in the building, so the roommate left with him, carrying an overnight bag. My daughter is coming home in a few days, I don't want this man in this building when she gets back, he is a very scary looking guy. I fear for the roommates life, but unless the roommate presses charges, there is not much I can do. I am assuming this is not considered a domestic violence issue that would prevent me from serving an eviction notice, because the man does not live here, and the only reason there is violence is because he is being let in. My question is, do I need to adhere to 30 days, if the roommate continues to allow this violent man in the building, putting everyone in the building in danger? If the boyfriend is let in again, can I have him removed for trespassing even if the roommate willingly lets him up in the apartment, or would I have to wait until he's literally in the process of beating the roommate, who would surely decline to press charges?

Account Closed · Answer

Sounds like the girlfriend needs serious help and should be locked up to keep herself safe. The girl her keeps letting a psycho into her life is the cause for putting you in danger and she needs to be evicted asap because the police will tell you the problem with the boyfriend being allowed into the unit by the girlfriend is a civil matter and you have to resolve that by going to court.I've had the exact and similar problems many times. Every time scumbags or someone goes into tenants' units and causes any type of problem the landlords need to refrain from communicating with non-tenants and deal only with your tenants. Otherwise, you can get hurt, or you can end up in a bad fight with both your trailer trash tenants and non-tenants.I made a promise to myself many years ago that I would never let tenants make me miserable or emotional for any reason and that promise really helps me to remain calm and sleep well at night even when I have serious problems with tenants . I treat being a landlord exactly the same as a person would treat customers and employees at any business like a 7-Eleven, at a professional office environment, etc.. When tenants don't pay their rent, or make any type of threat I calmly call an attorney and let the attorney deal with the bad things.

Nathan Gesner · Answer

1. You should have reported him to the police, whether she wanted it or not.2. Call the police now. Explain the situation and demand a No Trespass order against him.3. Stick to your guns on getting her out. She will likely continue allowing him in so the only way to get rid of him completely is to get rid of her.

Louie Gabriel · Answer

Call your city police department and download their NO Trespass form. In order to serve it you have to physically meet with them at property and give it to them..or if your there you call police tell them you want a NO Trespass order made against the person that is CURRENTLY on your property and you want them removed. I basically posted a NO Trespass sign and also filled out the form and put a copy on the entry to the people that were issues.. they never came back.

Joe Splitrock · Answer

@Kat P. be aware that women in domestic abuse situations are often scared to report their abuser. Or in her case maybe even scared to tell him he is not welcome. When you witness a situation like this, you don't ask to call the police, you call the police. You don't need a victims consent to report a crime and prosecutors don't even need a victims consent to prosecute, although it is much harder to win without it. Once the police are there, give a factual reporting of the situation. The police will pull the victim aside and help her. She may talk to them. At a minimum you want each occurrence documented by the police. The simple act of the police showing up could have prevented this from every happening again. It could have scared the boyfriend or maybe the boyfriend even has open warrants or probation.You could run into legal trouble on your eviction, because evicting domestic violence victims can be seen as cruel by the courts. Personally, I would have called the police and pursued a restraining order to bar the individual from coming near the property. Then if he shows up have him arrested. If the tenant wanted to leave at that point, she would leave. The police reports ware also a way to document that the boyfriend was there.

Kat P. · Answer

The roomate is a male, and he was fighting also, except the guest was much larger than the roommate. My daughter lives in the apartment, this puts her in danger. I can evict anyone that puts another tenant in danger, no?

Theresa Harris · Answer

I'd call the police and report the incident from the other night when you stopped him while he was beating her. You are a witness and she may not need to press charges, but you saw the assault and therefore he can be charged.

Kat P. · Answer

Thanks for all the responses. I will file a police report today, grab a no trespassing sign on the way home, and I will be sure to make it clear that it's not simply about a boyfriend visiting. I gave the 30 day notice, but it happened on the 3rd, so 30 days will really be July, that is if he doesn't finish the job before then. It's pretty sad actually.

Kat P. · Answer

Yes, I do have surveillance (the unit was previously an Airbnb). I will have time to make the police report this afternoon. I seriously doubt the police will do more than make a report, as I did not actually see it with my own eyes, I simply heard it and it stopped when I banged on the door to interrupt it. Although it was clear there was a physical confrontation, and the size difference and boyfriends demeanor tells me what was going on, I am assuming my logical conclusion is not legally valid. I did serve the roommate with a 30 day the next morning and yesterday I also handed him the 10 day (with 10 days to fix), exactly as Natalie recommended, based on the loud fighting and banging noises that disturbed occupants and next door neighbors. I don't think this is going to happen again, my daughter is coming back today, and he really does not want the police involved. He understands there will be zero tolerance. In fact he apologized and said thinks he has a place to go already, and he will try to move sooner than the 30 days. I knew this had to be a sticky situation, legally; I am going to do everything I can to avoid ever having to use all this newfound information again. My daughter says she's going to try and convince him to get some help, if he even wants it. Hopefully this is the end of it. For now I'm going to stick with a no roommate policy (as daughter has been sternly reminded that her lease can end in 30 days as well, lol).

Mike S. · Answer

I don’t believe you can trespass someone who is a guest of a resident.However as a witness of a domestic violence crime, you should have call the police and let them arrest the boyfriend. He would have then been issued a no contact order until the trial. If he shows up during the no contact order then you can call the police again to have him arrested, even if he was invited here by the protected party.However it is clear by your post that the case will be drop at trial due to non cooperative victim. At that time the no contact order would be dropped, but that should give you some quiet time before your 30 days notice expiration.

Natalie Schanne · Answer

@Kat P. - Yes, please call the police directly next time so you are not potentially physically harmed because of this. I would also send the tenant a noise violation or other lease clause with a x day notice to cure or quit. For me, this would be a function of restricting your quiet enjoyment of the premises, though I’m sure you can find one or more other things the tenant has violated. I have a clause in my leases now that has nuisance charges / fees for disturbances. Almost every problem I’ve had with a tenant has been caused in the first few weeks of their occupancy (overdose, stealing from others, inviting over guests who assaulted other members of the complex). All leading to police and/or ambulances at my property. I always post the notice to get them out immediately and/or offer termination of lease and make them go ASAP and the drama goes away. Also, set up a ring doorbell camera at your front entrance. You can turn off the ongoing noisy alerts to your phone and it will auto record activity for your future review (as needed).