Homeless people in next door neighbour's backyard

[Changseok Kim]

Hi BP members, 

I have an issue with my rental property, and wish to ask for your guidance. I have a rental property and currently occupied with renters. Recently, the new neighbour next door let homeless people (his friends, I guess) stay in his backyard, currently there are three tents.  Unfortunately there are no barriers between his backyard and our rental property, and campers location is very close to the kitchen of our rental property. Also, the new owner cut down trees between our property and his, which exposes the campers more to our property. Our renters are uncomfortable with the current situation and feels insecure about their privacy, requesting for installation of tall fence, which will cost lump sum money. 

How would you approach this situation? Any recommendation will be appreciated. 

Thank you. 

[Theresa Harris]

Talk to the neighbour and ask if they will go 50:50 on a fence.  If not, put one up on that side of the yard.

[JD Martin]

If there's no regulations against it, you'll either have to put up a fence or tell the tenants you have no recourse but that they are welcome to pay for a fence. Or let them out of their lease and rerent to someone who doesn't care. 

If it were my house I would put up a fence. It permanently solves the problem of what the neighbors are doing in their yard, at least visually.

[Arsen Atanasovski]

I would check with the city ordnance, I see your in Michigan, not Cali. I know in many cities I have rentals in, you can not have temporary housing up for more then 10 days without a permit. I wouldnt go out and blow money right away on a fence. If it was my property I would first check with the laws I know for sure there has to be some sort of permits to have tents or any other outside “buildings” to be on your property. I’m just saying if your going to blow on a fence hopefully you can have your new wonderful Neighbor pitch in….on some fines.

[Eliott Elias]

I’ve dealt with this issue before, squatters on my neighbors property. The best thing you can do is get the owners of that house on the same page as you to get ‘em out, I would use that as a chance to buy the house. If not, at least get power of attorney and have them out yourself via an eviction 

[Julien Jeannot]

I'd second the fence. This seems like it could be a long term problem, the fence will keep current tenants happy and should they move out, the fence will help secure new tenants. Bad situation, but the fence could be a plus for dog owners looking for a fully fenced yard.

[Vicky L.]

@Changseok Kim I second contacting the city's code enforcement. I doubt it's legal to set up a homeless encampment in one's backyard - especially when there's no fences. Bring attention to how unsafe the tenants feel, any noise or trash generated, etc. when you contact code enforcement.

[Sergey A. Petrov]

Is the neighboring property a rental or owner occupied? If rented, the owner / landlord may not even be aware of what is going on and will take their own action once they know. You should know your neighbors - makes life much much easier before you start calling law / code enforcement, paying attorneys, or building fences. Are you self managing your rental? If not, let your manager manage the relationship with the tenants and guide you through this.

[Joseph R. Smith]

Property type class C and D experience here. I prefer Class C if I can help it, but not when exuberant appreciation via revitalization may dictate getting into D property type areas. I've actually had my eye on Detroit, MI and Toledo, Ohio. -Carefully. Depending on an area, the very 1st most important thing I always do is Secure That Property! -Quality security system, often surveillance, bars on windows if need be, and an 8' tall enough to be a real deterant not easy to set a 6' stepladder next to and look/climb over privacy Fence! 

Perhaps I have this picture incorrect based on my own experience. All, Respectfully, unless you have some real firsthand experience in some areas 90% of investors are afraid to touch and say those of us that do are crazy, you have little idea what we're even talking about here. Respectfully. Its a whole different game. Nothing is by the book. Evictions and turnover rates are dealt with on an individual case by case basis. Often, like if there is a warrant out for the tenant its one common eviction policy lol. Not sure how else to even better give this picture. There is little rationalizing with the neighbors, nor often the city with extreme budget problems themselves for that matter. Usually they are to be avoided at all costs lol. We dont want any more civil problems than already exist. But the ROI's are tremendous for dealing with the nonsense, often less than 1 year ROI for those that can handle it.

Original poster, you need to secure that property yourself at all costs! :) When we go in and try to really clean up high crime unsafe areas where people are pitching multiple tents in the yard and s**t lol, we must consider how good hard working tenants we want to make the area a place for families proud to call home once again-how much they will appreciate our efforts to get and keep them there. They need to feel safe first. It will drastically increase demand and choice of tenant selection for your particular unit. I really hope this helps. No brainer on that fence. 

OP, do you watch "The Shea Show"? He has a youtube channel. Is in Detroit. I learned a great deal from him. Perhaps your situation is quite different than I describe. :) 

[Drew Sygit]

@Changseok Kim 

1) Check city ordinances about visitors using tents. Be careful to be VERY specific about the facts (if you don't ask the right question, you won't get the right answer!)

2) If the tenants feel threatened, tell them to call the police! Human nature is to be lazy, tenants are no different. They expect you to solve the problem, but they are the only ones that can call the police with a complaint. 

3) Talk to the neighbor and find out what is going on.
- Are these friends and if so, how long are they staying?
- Is neighbor renting out his backyard on a camping website for extra cash and planning to do this all summer?