No matter how well you screen tenants, it is inevitable that you eventually encounter a tenant who lives a party life much to the chagrin of his neighbors.The hard part about managing party animals who are disturbing other tenants is that unless you living on the property yourself, it becomes a game of “he-said-she-said.”
How To Vet Out Party Animals During the Application Process
Facebook is an excellent tool for this. Simply search the tenant’s name, and you may encounter photographic evidence of their partying ways. Surprisingly enough, I have found that most party-types, want the public to witness their latest good time, and are the most likely people to have “public” profiles for all the world to see.
Be careful when vetting out tenants based on this information. The law says you cannot discriminate, but does not go as far as to tell you where party animals fit in.
Once You Have A Party Animal On Your Hands
- The first step is to nicely explain to them “people livehere. They go to work and school and they are entitled to a restful night’s sleep.” Some party people are so wrapped up in their own good time, they don’t think of other peoples’ needs.
- On the second offense, tell them to take their partying outside the building. I’ve never heard anyone complain about difficulties finding a good time in San Francisco.
- Tell the tenant that all other tenants have the non-emergency number for the police–and give that number to the other tenants, 415-553-0123. Sadly, often this is the only action to get a noisy tenant’s attention. If you take this route, remember to ask the other tenants to get a case number from the police officer. You will need this evidence should the tenant continue their partying ways and you need to evict them.
- Still having problems? The word “lawyers” is often scarier to tenants than “police.” Have a lawyer call the tenant and explain to them that in San Francisco, an eviction stays on your record for seven years.” Explain that this will severely prohibit their ability to rent another apartment here or in any other state. As most party tenants tend to be young, these seven years while they are trying to establish credit, starting their first real job or getting married, are important. They may realize the severity of having an eviction on their record.
At this point, the tenant may just have to be evicted. As they are trying to convince you to let them stay, remind them that they are only enduring an eviction because they choose to invite over a few noisy friends, and that they could have instead chose to abide by the house rules and have lived happily ever after.