Tenants being harassed by neighbors

Tenants being harassed by neighbors

Rental Property Investor · Ottawa, ON · Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 225 votes

We built a 4plex last year on a country road where several houses have been there for 20+ years. The entire time of the construction we got dirty looks from the neighbors and even 1 woman stormed into the building one day angry at us for choosing the same color siding than her and for building apartments near her house....

Now that the building is fully occupied, 4 houses around have formed a click and are harassing our very carefully screened and chosen tenants. They started a verbal fight with one of our tenants for using his pressure washer for over 30 minutes at 2pm on a weekday... Then they started calling and emailing us saying we needed to do something about our building because there were too many cars in the driveway and because on garbage day there’s too many garbage cans lined up on the road and because their snowmobiles are noisy...

Look I get that they’re mad that there’s a 4 plex next to their house now but they’re not doing anything illegal! we spoke to all our tenants and we visit the property regularly and nothing is out of place and our tenants are good people. All 4 units get along great with each other but they all feel harassed by the neighbours and now so do we.

What’s the best way to deal with this??

0Reply
138 views

Most Popular Reply

Rental Property Investor · Concord, GA · Member since 2015 · 3k+ posts · 3k+ votes
6y

Go to one of their houses and offer to buy it. "I've heard you don't like living here so I'd like to make an offer on your property."

See this reply in the discussion

33 Replies

Jump to latestLatest
  • Rental Property Investor · Ottawa, ON · Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 225 votes
    6y

    @Jonathan R McLaughlin haha Canadians can be damn good at fake nice too :) but ya I thought of saying that... that if they drive the good ones away the next ones may not be as good. I’d like to tell them that The building isn’t going away so if they don’t like it then the best thing is to just ignore it. But gotta thread carefully. I don’t want to cause unnecessary drama. Aint nobody got time for that lol

  • Rental Property Investor · Malvern, PA · Member since 2016 · 1k+ posts · 936 votes
    6y

    One of my peers on our township planning commission had a great approach for handling this.  His prior background was neighbor liaison for the nuclear reactor portion of the electric company (would you like to live near one?).  He helped defuse many situations on our planning commission with residents.

    He would simply ask, "What would you like to see done about that?"  It forces the complainer to be constructive, recognize the limits of the situation and say something they support rather than oppose.

    Example: "They have too many trash cans out front on trash day."  OK, I understand.  What would you like to have done about that?  (Hmmm....that's a problem.  Now, the complainer has to actually recommend a solution, not just complain.)

    - "Tell them they can only have 1."  (OK.  What do they do with the rest of their trash?  After any answer: That seems reasonable.  Would you also be willing to live with the same arrangement?  The rationale is their use is identical to the neighbors, so if a rule applies to one is should certainly apply to the person recommending the rule.

    If nothing else, you can have a lot of fun with this.  In the end, if you get a reasonable recommendation, you can tell the neighbor your next step is to discuss it with your tenant.  Be careful agreeing up front because it might not be enforceable if not in your lease.  Add it to your lease with an addendum if your tenant agrees.  This end result is ideal because the neighbors see their complaints addressed and your tenant is agreeable.

  • Avery CarlBusiness Member
    Real Estate Agent · USA · Member since 2016 · 909 posts · 1k+ votes
    6y

    @Natalie Cloutier I'd honestly just try and ignore it and they will stop in a few months. Engaging is only going to prolong the process. The longer your tenants live there and don't cause problems, the less the other residents will care. Your tenants signed a lease, they won't be driven off by a neighbor asking them to stop pressure washing. And if they do, you get their deposit and other costs associated with them breaking their lease, and you find another tenant. It will stop, just don't let them get you all wound up and make decisions that you wouldn't usually.

  • Rental Property Investor · Ottawa, ON · Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 225 votes
    6y

    @James Mc Ree Great advice!! I’ll keep that in mind. Thank you :)

  • Rental Property Investor · Ottawa, ON · Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 225 votes
    6y

    @Avery Carl that’s something we’re considering as well! Thanks for your input :)

  • Rental Property Investor · Jacksonville, Florida Area · Member since 2016 · 106 posts · 48 votes
    6y

    @Natalie Cloutier You might want to rent one or two of your units to law enforcement officers, and give them a heads up on the situation.

  • Investor · Tx, GA · Member since 2019 · 313 posts · 337 votes
    6y
    Originally posted by @Natalie Cloutier:

    @Sue K. You’re so right! But at the same time we don’t want them to drive away good tenants and I feel like it might be our duty as landlords to get involved? That’s why we’re a little torn on the matter.

     Keep a cool head. Always be the bigger person because in the end, that benefits YOU and your tenants the most. If the neighbors cross the line and do something physical / vandalize / confront , take swift legal action, but as an owner, just let them vent to you and calmly explain why you're not in the wrong. I wouldn't ignore outright, they'll get more pissed off and could do something erratic. 


    The second you show emotion, that gives them victory and emboldens them. They might also start agitating the neighbors in person which is an absolute no no.

    As long as the complaints are coming to you, about things that are reasonable, you are fine and shouldn't stress. Calm explanations and forget about it. 

  • Rental Property Investor · Ottawa, ON · Member since 2019 · 68 posts · 225 votes
    6y

    @John Collins yes I agree with you. I think It’s all about threading lightly until they calm down and move on to something else. It also doesn’t help that everyone is home and bored these days lol

Join the conversationCreate a free account to reply, vote on answers and follow this thread.