Residential Landlord · Huntingdon Valley, PA · Member since 2013 · 8 posts · 2 votes
Quick question, as a landlord renting an apartment to an unmarried couple (man/woman), am I legally responsible to notify any authority (police/social services, etc..) if my female tenant informs me that she is leaving the apartment because she fears for her safety (domestic violence) from her boyfriend???
I sit on the board of a centre for research and education on domestic violence. While I am not sure about what the local legal requirements may be, I think you should consider why the woman in question told you about her fears. Was it idle discussion or was it more in hope that someone might listen and see the train wreck that might be about to happen? Landlords can take on the appearance of authority figures in tenants' lives. They can appear to be relatively stable and responsible individuals. This might be a cry for help. I would be inclined to call your local police department and ask to speak to officers who specialise in domestic violence cases, and voice your concerns. Let them decide whether this is a case that requires preventative action or not.
That's going to vary by jurisdiction but in Pennsylvania you may need to. Pennsylvania has some fairly strong protective services rules. Call your county DHS.
Legally, it is most probably you are not required to report to the authorities, though there are some jurisdictions where it is mandatory so you should check what is required in your state. The exception may be if you personally witnessed an abusive event ... and then it would probably have to be physical abuse before most authorities would take any action (policy forces and the judicial system are just starting to understand other forms of abuse {emotional, financial, etc} ).
That said, a woman is at greatest risk when, or shortly after, she leaves a violent relationship - statistics and the research at John Hopkins backs this fact ... as does my wife, who has worked in the field for many years. Though you are not obligated to report to the authorities, doing so would create a record on file ... in some jurisdictions this will benefit her if/when she needs to call the police in the future and may lead to faster response.
The other thing you can do is provide her with contact information for a domestic violence outreach worker: police departments often have a female officer who serves as a liaison with both transition houses and outreach works and would be a good place to obtain information.
Longer answer = Some professions (i.e. police officers, physicians, etc) are "mandated reporters" and have to report domestic violence when they observe it, know it occurred, or reasonably should know that it occurred. However, a landlord is not one such profession.
Also worth noting, some states have special statutes/protections for victims of domestic violence when they are tenants. For instance, in some circumstances they are legally allowed to terminate a lease early if they are the victim of domestic violence. This varies by state though, and it doesn't look like your state (Pennsylvania) has such a statute. But here's a link to a website on the topic if you're interested in reading more:
Legal protections for tenants who are victims of domestic violence
as stated, you're not a required reporter, but you're a citizen, I'd certainly call the detectives with their names. They may know the guy, I doubt you know him that well or are able to determine the risk.
Any time a person says something like that, chances are good one of them is a nut job, that's not normal conduct. You should have a Tips Hotline.
Maybe if citizens were more involved in tipping off officials about odd conduct, threats made and explosive behavior we'd probably have less shootings and crazies carrying out crimes. What if she shows up dead 500 miles away in three months, would you hear about it? Probably not. :)
All I can say Mark is that at least she's doing the right thing and getting the heck out of dodge. And as for restraining orders in PA, they are pretty much a joke. If someone is burning with anger and rage a piece of paper sure the heck isn't going to make for a sufficient hedge.
I had a couple/tenants that were in the same situation. But with my couple, I ended up discovering that it was an ongoing thing. They had been together for many years, and through those years he'd beat her up, she'd leave (get a restraining order and change her phone number), and a few days later they were living together again as if nothing ever happened. It was a highly dysfunctional relationship, yet somehow they managed to function in their dysfunction. They were tenants of mine for about 5 years and she had changed her number about 10 times (she'd call me everytime she did to give me the new one). In my opinion, it was a case of codependency. Sad story, but here is good ending - she did eventually leave him.
In those types of situations it is often a case of fear (for herself or for children) - sometimes naïvety "He said he won't hit me anymore" - rather than co-dependency that keeps the woman coming back. I have had the opportunity to watch my wife deal with these situation for the better part of 16-yrs and remain amazed how she does it.
I sit on the board of a centre for research and education on domestic violence. While I am not sure about what the local legal requirements may be, I think you should consider why the woman in question told you about her fears. Was it idle discussion or was it more in hope that someone might listen and see the train wreck that might be about to happen? Landlords can take on the appearance of authority figures in tenants' lives. They can appear to be relatively stable and responsible individuals. This might be a cry for help. I would be inclined to call your local police department and ask to speak to officers who specialise in domestic violence cases, and voice your concerns. Let them decide whether this is a case that requires preventative action or not.
Quick question, as a landlord renting an apartment to an unmarried couple (man/woman), am I legally responsible to notify any authority (police/social services, etc..) if my female tenant informs me that she is leaving the apartment because she fears for her safety (domestic violence) from her boyfriend???
Mark:
Just as an aside, their marital status is irrelevant with respect to domestic violence.
Thanks again for all of your input. An update to my situation. My female tenant informed me that she is going to stay in the apartment and resolve things with her boyfriend. I don't know how long this is going to last, but at least I'm more informed about this topic as a result of your comments and my research over the last couple of days. I do plan on paying more attention to their situation, and will inform the appropriate authorities if I witness or hear any altercation between them.