Previous tenants stalking landlord's family

[Lia]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington

My mom rented her house and moved in with my sisters. Tenants were a disabled veteran and his live-in caregiver/girlfriend with 2 babies and they seemed ok during the showing and had a good income from VA. Their previous landlord gave good references and mentioned a little something about them being picky but that didn't seemed strange at the time as she didn't elaborate much on that. The real trouble started after they lived for 2 months there. First it was a roof leak which was fixed right away even though there was something "fishy" about it. Next the skylight got broken and they send a demand letter to change the carpet in the bedroom as they think it's causing their son's allergies.

We scheduled an inspection and were surprised at the pot smell inside the house as it seemed they were smoking inside with 2 babies there. They were nice and said not to worry about the carpet but skylight has to be fixed which we did. 2 months later it got cracked again and at this time we knew that something was very wrong with them. They also called the roofing company to do an estimate to change the roof which was $14K. The roof was changed 4 years ago and we told them no.

Then they clogged the toilet and called the plumbing to check the whole house system which was $1,300. Of course we said no, fixed the clog which was about 2 rolls of paper flushed at once and told them to find another rental and move out. They said no and threatened to sue so we said, ok, when your 1 year contract is out, look for another place. 2 months later they found a new place and it was only 10 month into their contract but we were glad they were moving as we had a lot of other ridiculous demands from them. They went to the lawyer who found a little mistake we did when we gave them the keys, we forgot to include the check list. Anyway, they gave us a letter that we have to give them deposit right away which we did along with a small claims court papers for damages. My mom and sisters moved back into that house.

2 days ago at mediation hearing they were lying, screaming, almost got kicked out from court. My mom couldn't face them again as she is 66 years old and has high BP so she didn't want a court date and dismissed the case. Well, this morning at 4 am my sister was going to work and they were parked next to the driveway with engine running and drove off when they saw her. Now they are all scared and don't know what to do. Should they get a restraining order. They don't know their new address but I'm sure police will find that.

Another thing we found out is that address white pages has for both of them is housing alliance in Seattle for people with mental problems, drug addictions, disabilities or combination. I don't know what that means but it doesn't sound good.

 

[Just Blue]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington
My mom rented her house and moved in with my sisters. Tenants were a disabled veteran and his live-in caregiver/girlfriend with 2 babies and they seemed ok during the showing and had a good income from VA. Their previous landlord gave good references and mentioned a little something about them being picky but that didn't seemed strange at the time as she didn't elaborate much on that. The real trouble started after they lived for 2 months there. First it was a roof leak which was fixed right away even though there was something "fishy" about it. Next the skylight got broken and they send a demand letter to change the carpet in the bedroom as they think it's causing their son's allergies. We scheduled an inspection and were surprised at the pot smell inside the house as it seemed they were smoking inside with 2 babies there. They were nice and said not to worry about the carpet but skylight has to be fixed which we did. 2 months later it got cracked again and at this time we knew that something was very wrong with them. They also called the roofing company to do an estimate to change the roof which was $14K. The roof was changed 4 years ago and we told them no. Then they clogged the toilet and called the plumbing to check the whole house system which was $1,300. Of course we said no, fixed the clog which was about 2 rolls of paper flushed at once and told them to find another rental and move out. They said no and threatened to sue so we said, ok, when your 1 year contract is out, look for another place. 2 months later they found a new place and it was only 10 month into their contract but we were glad they were moving as we had a lot of other ridiculous demands from them. They went to the lawyer who found a little mistake we did when we gave them the keys, we forgot to include the check list. Anyway, they gave us a letter that we have to give them deposit right away which we did along with a small claims court papers for damages. My mom and sisters moved back into that house.
2 days ago at mediation hearing they were lying, screaming, almost got kicked out from court. My mom couldn't face them again as she is 66 years old and has high BP so she didn't want a court date and dismissed the case. Well, this morning at 4 am my sister was going to work and they were parked next to the driveway with engine running and drove off when they saw her. Now they are all scared and don't know what to do. Should they get a restraining order. They don't know their new address but I'm sure police will find that.
Another thing we found out is that address white pages has for both of them is housing alliance in Seattle for people with mental problems, drug addictions, disabilities or combination. I don't know what that means but it doesn't sound good.

Please add some "white space" .

It's hard to read your post as it is.

 

[quincy]

What is the name of your state (only U.S. law)? Washington
My mom rented her house ... Tenants were a disabled veteran and his live-in caregiver/girlfriend with 2 babies ... First it was a roof leak ... Next the skylight got broken and they send a demand letter to change the carpet in the bedroom as they think it's causing their son's allergies ... They were nice and said not to worry about the carpet but skylight has to be fixed which we did. 2 months later it got cracked again ... Then they clogged the toilet ... fixed the clog which was about 2 rolls of paper flushed at once and told them to find another rental and move out. They said no and threatened to sue so we said, ok, when your 1 year contract is out, look for another place. 2 months later they found a new place and it was only 10 month into their contract but we were glad they were moving as we had a lot of other ridiculous demands from them. They went to the lawyer who found a little mistake we did when we gave them the keys, we forgot to include the check list. Anyway, they gave us a letter that we have to give them deposit right away which we did along with a small claims court papers for damages ... 2 days ago at mediation hearing they were lying, screaming, almost got kicked out from court. My mom ... didn't want a court date and dismissed the case.

... Well, this morning at 4 am my sister was going to work and they were parked next to the driveway with engine running and drove off when they saw her. Now they are all scared and don't know what to do. Should they get a restraining order. They don't know their new address but I'm sure police will find that.
Another thing we found out is that address white pages has for both of them is housing alliance in Seattle for people with mental problems, drug addictions, disabilities or combination. I don't know what that means but it doesn't sound good.

It sounds as if your mother was not familiar with landlord/tenant laws when she rented out her house. It sounds as if she fumbled a bit with her landlord responsibilities and her duty to her tenants.

That said, it doesn't hurt for your mother to look into getting a restraining order against the former tenants if she now fears for her safety - although seeing the former tenants sitting in a car in front of the rental home once is probably not enough to support the issuance of one, nor will be what you found in the white pages.

Here is a link to information on Washington restraining and protection orders:
http://www.womenslaw.org/laws_state_type.php?id=102&state_code=WA

Your mother can consult with an attorney in her area for other options that may be available.

 

[Lia]

It sounds as if your mother was not familiar with landlord/tenant laws when she rented out her house. It sounds as if she fumbled a bit with her landlord responsibilities and her duty to her tenants.

After they send their first demand letter, I called their previous landlord since she gave good references. She asked me not to mention to them that she told me this and she went on and on how they demanded a lot of things and if she refused to do something, she would get a letter from their attorney. The house was only 6 years old and I asked what kind of demands were those. She said: change outlets, change the fence because it had some crooked boards, put granite in the kitchen, change the deck, etc. All this in 1 years of tenancy. After the granite demand, she put the house for sale and they moved. When contractor was working on a deck, the tenant told him how it's supposed to be done and got very mad when the contractor didn't follow. In her words, he "leashed out" on him.

I have been managing 6 rentals for 10 years and in my experience with 20+ families, none of them came even close to the "crazy" of these tenants. In court after they left, the mediator called them "insane" and suggested that my mom do better background check on tenants. And another thing, she (live-in caregiver/girlfriend) mentioned to me that she works for the attorney and gets all those letters for free. IMO she uses the law for others but not for herself. They violated many rules of rental agreement.

To add to the stalking case, they were seen by my brother (who lives on the same street) driving by after they moved out and it's not a major street. It's a dead end street and many have hard time finding it so it was on purpose for sure.

 

[quincy]

After they send their first demand letter, I called their previous landlord since she gave good references. She asked me not to mention to them that she told me this and she went on and on how they demanded a lot of things and if she refused to do something, she would get a letter from their attorney. The house was only 6 years old and I asked what kind of demands were those. She said: change outlets, change the fence because it had some crooked boards, put granite in the kitchen, change the deck, etc. All this in 1 years of tenancy. After the granite demand, she put the house for sale and they moved. When contractor was working on a deck, the tenant told him how it's supposed to be done and got very mad when the contractor didn't follow. In her words, he "leashed out" on him.

I have been managing 6 rentals for 10 years and in my experience with 20+ families, none of them came even close to the "crazy" of these tenants. In court after they left, the mediator called them "insane" and suggested that my mom do better background check on tenants. And another thing, she (live-in caregiver/girlfriend) mentioned to me that she works for the attorney and gets all those letters for free. IMO she uses the law for others but not for herself. They violated many rules of rental agreement.

To add to the stalking case, they were seen by my brother (who lives on the same street) driving by after they moved out and it's not a major street. It's a dead end street and many have hard time finding it so it was on purpose for sure.

If the tenants violated many rules of the rental agreement, you (having managed rentals for 10 years) could have advised your mother on the eviction process.

Being a demanding tenant, however, is not a violation - especially if the demands being made are legitimate ones. When demands aren't legitimate, the landlord needs to let the tenants know the limits of their rights.

Driving by houses generally is not enough to support a restraining order. Again, however, if your mother fears for her safety, she can contact the police.

I agree with the mediator that thorough checks should be made of all prospective tenants prior to handing them a lease and the keys to the rental.

Good luck.

 

[Lia]

Thank you for your advice.

I told my sisters and mom to take pix and/or video when they see their previous tenants by the house. They are installing security and video surveillance today. Hopefully nothing bad happens...

 

[HighwayMan]

The situation you describe is hardly stalking. It takes alot more than that.

 

[quincy]

I told my sisters and mom to take pix and/or video when they see their previous tenants by the house. They are installing security and video surveillance today. Hopefully nothing bad happens...

I hope nothing bad happens, too.

The tenants sound like they were difficult more than dangerous but the police should be contacted if anything changes to put them in the latter category.

Good luck. And thank you for the thanks.