Girlfriend Groped?

12/27/2005

I received a message today from a new tenant to call him urgently, which I did as soon as I received it. He claimed his girlfriend was “groped” by one of the tenants on the second floor. (He lives on the 3rd floor). And he didn’t know who it was. I asked if he called the police.

“No.”

I explained that I can only control my own behavior and not the behavior of my tenants. That if a crime was committed that he should call the police and report it. Without a police report in my hand, there is nothing I can do. With a police report of a crime, I could file for eviction and have a decent chance of getting a tenant out on the basis of such charges, but without any proof, the judge would just dismiss the case. He wasn’t happy with my answer, but didn’t give me an argument because I think he understood. He called back about five hours later, a call that I missed, and didn’t leave a message. I doubt he called the police.

One of the most frustrating things for landlords is for tenants to essentially blame you for crimes committed on the property, but then refuse to call the police to report it. But my attitude is, if you won’t call the police to report it, you can’t possibly think it’s that serious. Either that or you are a real idiot.