Evicted tenants harassment of current tenants

[Marilyn Pennington]

Jurisdiction

Indiana

We had to evict our last tenants and they moved across the street from our property. They are now repeatedly calling the police and animal control on our current tenants. Neither agency found just cause for the calls. The current tenants were interested in buying the property but now may move because of the harassment. What are my options in dealing with these past tenants?

 

[adjusterjack]

Not much.

That your current tenants were "interested" in buying means nothing. I had rentals for 20 years and had numerous tenants "interested" in buying but when the time came for them to put their money where their mouths were, they didn't. So you've got nothing there.

If your current tenants are on a lease of some specific duration and they break the lease because of the harassment you might be able to recover any actual monetary losses from the neighbor who drove them out. But then you would have to produce evidence (not just sayso) that the tenants were driven out by the neighbors. I doubt if your tenants will come back to testify in court for you once they move out.

Frankly, what I see you experiencing is the usual consequences of being a landlord (I had worse) and if you don't like taking those lumps, sell the property and don't look back. That's what I did.

 

[Marilyn Pennington]

We had to evict our last tenants and they moved across the street from our property. They are now repeatedly calling the police and animal control on our current tenants. Neither agency found just cause for the calls. The current tenants were interested in buying the property but now may move because of the harassment. What are my options in dealing with these past tenants?

Not much.

That your current tenants were "interested" in buying means nothing. I had rentals for 20 years and had numerous tenants "interested" in buying but when the time came for them to put their money where their mouths were, they didn't. So you've got nothing there.

If your current tenants are on a lease of some specific duration and they break the lease because of the harassment you might be able to recover any actual monetary losses from the neighbor who drove them out. But then you would have to produce evidence (not just sayso) that the tenants were driven out by the neighbors. I doubt if your tenants will come back to testify in court for you once they move out.

Frankly, what I see you experiencing is the usual consequences of being a landlord (I had worse) and if you don't like taking those lumps, sell the property and don't look back. That's what I did.

 

[Marilyn Pennington]

Actually the current tenants had already signed a sales agreement and are working on getting financing. Can we get a cease and desist order?

 

[adjusterjack]

Actually the current tenants had already signed a sales agreement and are working on getting financing.

Did they give you any money?

Can we get a cease and desist order?

You can't because you are not the direct victim. You can only seek monetary damages after the fact if you suffer monetary damages from the acts of the neighbor. One possibility that comes to mind is an action for "tortious interference" if the actions of the neighbors cause you to lose money.

Tortious interference - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

As for your tenants, I doubt that the neighbors' behavior rises to grounds for an order of protection. Read the following:

General Information About Orders of Protection

However, the tenants may have grounds for a "private nuisance" lawsuit against the neighbors:

Property Rights: My Neighbor is a Nuisance - FindLaw

 

[Marilyn Pennington]

Thanks for your input.