Landlords who rent to college students must be prepared to cope with young renters who may party too hard or too often. Find more about your legal options here.
What you will discover:
What can be done about tenants who generate excessive noise?
What if a group of college students has too many friends?
How do you cope with college students that party too much?
How can landlords protect themselves against liability?
When one unit produces difficulties, how can landlords keep other renters happy?
You could anticipate your renters to be a little crazy if you rent to college students or near a college campus. It is not unusual for college students to organize parties while still learning how to live outside of their childhood home. As a consequence, they may cross the line by causing damage, producing a nuisance, or causing difficulties for other renters. Learn how to deal with college renters that party too hard or create problems in the sections below.
What can be done about tenants who generate excessive noise?
When it comes to loud tenants, landlords have three worries. For starters, there is almost certainly a legal requirement to create a calm living environment for other renters or neighbors. Second, the local government may impose a law or ordinance. Finally, excessive noise or disturbance in common spaces might drive away decent renters.
If you get credible noise complaints about a tenant or have personally heard the noise, the first step is to speak with the loud renter(s). They may be unaware of how much noise they are making, what their neighbors can hear, or believe that the noise is not bothering them. If the issue persists after speaking with the renter, some landlords may be able to call local law enforcement, or they may ask neighbors to phone the non-emergency police number in order to enforce local noise restrictions. Landlords should exercise caution and consult with a lawyer before taking this path, since a HOA or the local government may punish the landlord for a renter’s noise offenses. In such cases, it is best practice to add a lease language that makes renters liable for penalties incurred as a result of their acts. You could also include quiet hours or other noise restrictions in your lease.
Finally, if a tenant is causing a nuisance to others or regularly breaking the lease terms, you may be required to serve an Eviction Notice. Before attempting eviction, there may need to be a recorded pattern of noise complaints or other infractions, as well as efforts to remedy the situation. You may use our Eviction Process Worksheet to help you decide if this is the best course of action.
When other renters complain about noise that is not excessive or occurs outside of the designated quiet hours, you may need to go outside the box to find a solution. Mediation between renters may be difficult, but it can also be rewarding. If one renter plays the drums and another has a napping newborn, just trading schedules and being polite might fix the situation. Other inventive solutions to this kind of issue may include creating more effective noise isolation or locating a drumming practice location farther away.
What if a group of college students has too many friends?
Having too many friends over might be an issue. To begin with, if there are a lot of people coming and departing, it might mean that there are more individuals living in the apartment than is mentioned on the lease. It might also indicate that your tenants are offering a room or unit on a short-term rental marketplace. Following that, their buddies may cause issues for other renters or pose security threats. The most prevalent associated concern in many metropolitan environments is that security doors to common spaces are left unlocked or ajar for the continual flow of visitors, allowing trespassers access to a building’s common areas.
Furthermore, more people typically equals more noise and a higher risk of injury or damage. Balconies, although unusual, may and do collapse, people fall from and through roofs, and other features or facilities, such as elevators, may have capacity limitations. If there are possible hazards for the unit or building, putting up signs displaying occupancy or weight limitations, or restricting roof access to maintenance professionals only, may help prevent disasters and liabilities, as can frequent inspections of those aspects. Depending on state and municipal laws, landlords may include regulations in their Lease Agreements limiting the number of visitors at parties, as well as restricting or prohibiting gatherings outright without prior consent.
How do you cope with college students that party too much?
Most landlords and neighbors will accept the odd party, particularly if it is on the weekend, concludes on time, and does not result in property damage, conflicts, police calls, or injuries. When your tenants are partying practically every night, even the most accommodating neighbors might reach a breaking point, even if the only issue is noise.
You may be able to settle the matter by discussing with the renter about partying in moderation, keeping noise to a minimum after a particular period, and providing courteous notice to their neighbors. If this fails, you may enforce your noise regulations and any other lease conditions that the renters are breaking by writing a warning letter requesting that the issues cease.
If discussing or sending a warning letter does not work and you need co-signers for your college student renters’ Lease Agreements, you may tell their co-signer of the lease infractions. Yes, this very certainly indicates that a landlord is informing the tenant’s parents, but the parent co-signer was most likely one of the key reasons a landlord agreed to rent to a young adult with no credit or rental history in the first place. Parents may be quite powerful in influencing the behavior of their young adult offspring. If the lease specifies fines or penalties, you may apply them to the co-signer. Landlords who rent to college students will often need co-signers, both for financial liability protection and to ensure that someone can be held responsible for rule infractions.
If all of the following fails, you may need to contact police authorities or evict if the issues continue and violate local or state laws. Repeated difficulties that do not break the law but do breach the lease may be grounds for evicting the tenants who are generating the problems.
How can landlords protect themselves against liability?
When young people assemble in big groups, it is not necessarily the safest atmosphere, particularly when alcohol is involved. However, a landlord may be held accountable for tenants’ or visitors’ injuries only if there is a failure to conduct maintenance, install safety measures, or address known safety hazards. For example, if a broken stair stays in disrepair or a pool fence is not constructed despite local regulations, there may be responsibility. The most essential thing you can do to prevent responsibility for accidents is to maintain the property in excellent shape and up to code, and to respond to Tenant shape Requests and safety concerns as soon as possible. Landlords may submit a Landlord’s Notice to Enter and do periodic maintenance checks to keep ahead of any problems or complaints.
In most cases, the landlord is not liable for accidents such as a slip and fall in a tenant’s apartment. Nonetheless, some landlords may stipulate in the Lease Agreement that a tenant get liability coverage via a renters insurance policy to cover such damage to their visitors.
When one unit produces difficulties, how can landlords keep other renters happy?
Keep your other renters satisfied by enforcing your lease conditions, offering accessible avenues for contact and concerns, and demonstrating that you are doing action to prevent problems. If you are striving to resolve the issue, your other renters will be more understanding and may even assist by providing text message reports of lease breaches, which may include images or videos.
Depending on the circumstances, you may want to give the issue tenant the option of breaking the lease without penalty, or you may want to provide an incentive to move out promptly, such as a cash-for-keys agreement. Get a cosigner engaged and make them aware of their possible obligation. If those choices are refused, you may need to serve an Eviction Notice and file for eviction if the problems listed in the notice are not repaired or fixable.
If there is still a month or two remaining on the lease, landlords may consider issuing the troublesome tenant a Notice of Non-Renewal informing them that their lease will not be extended and that they must evacuate the property on the final day. Landlords should evaluate their Lease Agreements and local legislation to ensure that they send this form of notice within the period specified in the lease or by law, which is often 30 or 60 days. Offering to restore the whole security deposit immediately after a successful Move Out Inspection and key return may give a significant incentive for problematic renters to depart on schedule.
