RunningOnEmpty
Member
What is the name of your state? California
My 21 year old step-daughter and her family recently moved to a bigger, better house in a much worse neighborhood. They signed a 12 month lease. Her home is at the end of a cul de sac with an alley behind it. On the opposite side of the alley is a large apartment complex. She immediately complained of the apartment residents frequently jumping the fence into her front/side yard, apparently as a means of taking a short cut. She dicussed this with her property manager, who was already aware of of the situation. The PM mentioned there used to be a gate in her front/side yard, which accessed the alley. She told her the gate had been removed to keep the apt. residents from accessing the rental property via the gate. (now the apt. residents just jump the fence).
Last week she called me during the afternoon, quite upset. She said she had gone out to her backyard where she found two adult males. When she yelled out, they told her "sorry, shortcut" and scrambled over her back fence into her ft/side yard, then on down the street. While her father and I have been over there, we've observed lots of scary-looking people (gangbanger types) jumping over the fence at her front/side yard, both coming and going to and from this apt. complex. This seems to be a regular, daily, ongoing situation. She stays home with her two young children while her husband is out working. She does not feel safe. The PM suggested a "No tresspassing" sign, but somehow, I get the feeling (from the looks of these people), it would be unheeded.
Do the landlords of either property have any responsibility to take measures to prevent this situation from continuing? If not, would this situation be grounds for breaking the lease?
Otherwise, do any of you have any ideas for stopping this problem? I suggested landscaping the length of the fenceline with cactus, but it's such a long area, it's probably not something the PM would be interested in doing. She's not allowed to have a dog, which would probably help, at least in the backyard.
My 21 year old step-daughter and her family recently moved to a bigger, better house in a much worse neighborhood. They signed a 12 month lease. Her home is at the end of a cul de sac with an alley behind it. On the opposite side of the alley is a large apartment complex. She immediately complained of the apartment residents frequently jumping the fence into her front/side yard, apparently as a means of taking a short cut. She dicussed this with her property manager, who was already aware of of the situation. The PM mentioned there used to be a gate in her front/side yard, which accessed the alley. She told her the gate had been removed to keep the apt. residents from accessing the rental property via the gate. (now the apt. residents just jump the fence).
Last week she called me during the afternoon, quite upset. She said she had gone out to her backyard where she found two adult males. When she yelled out, they told her "sorry, shortcut" and scrambled over her back fence into her ft/side yard, then on down the street. While her father and I have been over there, we've observed lots of scary-looking people (gangbanger types) jumping over the fence at her front/side yard, both coming and going to and from this apt. complex. This seems to be a regular, daily, ongoing situation. She stays home with her two young children while her husband is out working. She does not feel safe. The PM suggested a "No tresspassing" sign, but somehow, I get the feeling (from the looks of these people), it would be unheeded.
Do the landlords of either property have any responsibility to take measures to prevent this situation from continuing? If not, would this situation be grounds for breaking the lease?
Otherwise, do any of you have any ideas for stopping this problem? I suggested landscaping the length of the fenceline with cactus, but it's such a long area, it's probably not something the PM would be interested in doing. She's not allowed to have a dog, which would probably help, at least in the backyard.