The policy of the board of my condo association is to fine a landlord for the neighbor complaints and police involvement of their tenant’s domestic violence incidents. The police did not make an arrest, but this apparently is the second time they have been called out to the tenants. I have no knowledge of who is on the lease, etc. etc.
Have any of you come across a situation where the landlord was fined for such a situation? What was the outcome? Did it make the situation better? Worse? Is there a chance that a fine will make things worse for the victim? I’m worried that any intervention will make it worse for the victim of abuse, who is a woman.
And any there other methods of handling this type of situations, particularly where the neighbors are deeply affected by the violence? I can’t change the policy of the condo association, but maybe there are some safety protocols we can implement to keep the victim safe.
Comments
I feel like you need really specific, localized legal advice about tenant rights and enforceable condo association rules. Both of these things are going to vary country to country, state to state.
Where I live condo boards have really broad power to fine owners for the actions of tenants or other residents and owners could be jointly responsible for disturbances. Excessive noise doesn’t distinguish abuse from loud parties. Maybe it should, but it sure doesn’t where I live. The owner would need to take reasonable steps to address unacceptable noise levels, or be responsible. It seems like in this case, if the owner just pays the fine it’s not even certain the tenant or victim would ever know.
But like I said: I think you want advice that is very specific to the jurisdiction you’re in. As the owner you can be flexible with the lease if one person wants out, but until then you largely have to deal with it as the noise issue.
Sounds like a crime-free ordinance. It’s a thing.
Crime-free ordinances aren’t all that uncommon, but at least in my state (Illinois) domestic violence is specifically exempt from them. It’s against the law to penalize a landlord for contacting police due to domestic violence issues. That may not be the case in every state, so consult with an attorney.
Definitely lawyer territory.
These things start off well intentioned and go off the rails very fast.
Lear’s say there is a domestic violence situation in unit 1, so unit 2 reports it to the police, and you fine unit 1. Well unit 1 wants to know who reported them, and for obvious reasons you tell them it’s anonymous. Well unit one thinks it was unit 3 who called the police, so the next time unit 3’s tv is loud, they call the cops and report a domestic violence situation in unit 3 for the obvious TV scream.
Well now you have a policy, and if you don’t stick with it, unit 1 will claim it’s because they are part of whatever protected class they can claim (disability, religion, age, gender, race, etc.). So you fine unit 3.
Now unit 3 is pissed, so they call the police when unit 4’s dog is barking. But that isn’t enough for unit 3, oh no, they are all in. They read the bylaws with a fine tooth comb, and find every single rule everyone is breaking and report it all to the board. Now the board has to act against 12 other units for various minor violations or unit 3 claims discrimination.
At this point the entire board is fed up and everyone is fighting with their neighbors. And that’s when you learn unit 1 got an attorney and dug up some domestic violence victim protection law you weren’t aware of and starts suing the board and the community.
Pay for a consultation with a lawyer experienced in HOAs before you do anything. You will be glad you did.