Mentally unstable tenant now M.I.A.

[Ben Gleason]

I am sorry I am such an amateur and asking for so much advice. My situation keeps escalating. I have 2 other posts but to summarize:

I own a home and rent the lower. My tenant displays erratic behavior, including possible drug and alcohol issues, and obsessive tendencies. He obsesses about the police, the FBI, and sometimes thinks someone is on the street looking to kill him.  

On Thanksgiving his pattern shifted into even more delusional paranoia. He was filming out of his window, parking wildly in the street, worried about the FBI. 

I have not seen him since Thanksgiving and yesterday, the 27th, a local county Crisis Management team came to the house looking for him to perform a welfare check.  Apparently on Black Friday he was at a grocery store, displayed ‘disturbing behavior’ and someone called the police on him.   Police let him go but they followed up with crisis services to visit to make sure he didn’t harm himself. I don’t have much info on what actually occurred at the store. 

I do not know where he is. I called his emergency contact, and even THEY won’t respond to me.  I have no idea if he’s in his apartment. His car is gone, but it could have been towed based on how he parked. 

At what point to I go into his apartment? How do I handle this situation without breaking any laws (NYS doesn’t like landlords that much). I  have absolutely no idea what to do here.  Do I just keep reaching out to his emergency contact? Not to sound insensitive but I have a life to live as well. 

[Colleen F.]

@Ben Gleason  You post notice to enter as required in your jurisdiction. Then you enter when allowed. Check abandonment laws in your state as to when you can consider it abandoned. If it were me I would tape the notice to enter across the door jamb so you can see if the unit has been entered. Retape the door when you leave so you can see if he came back.  You can continue to call emergency contact or call crisis if he shows up. Try to be calm and co-operative when talking to the emergency contact. They are probably envisioning a LL yelling at them for answers and they probably don't have any.  He could be hospitalized, let's hope as he does sound like this is psychosis given he is so paranoid.