As a landlord who happens to live in close proximity (next door) to a tenant who all too loudly spends a lot of time watching pornography, should I be concerned that I could be vulnerable or held liable in an any way for enabling this to occur on my property?

In case you are wondering, I dio not query applicants in any way about this habit in their rental application, but am thinking this could have some merit ,,,.

Thank you for responding!

Helen,

You are totally responsible! You need to put a stop to this as soon as possible. I would tell the tenant what content he can, and can't, watch - right now.

You should have taken the suggestion of other landlord here and vetted this tenant buy going to his house during the approval process to see if he spends his evenings watching porn.

Chances are, depending upon your particular community,the local police probably already know who is tuning in to ILLEGAL material at a given addresses. Nevertheless, your unique question should concern all landlords, and I will look forward to the responses.

CN

Chances are, depending upon your particular community,the local police probably already know who is tuning in to ILLEGAL material at a given addresses. Nevertheless, your unique question should concern all landlords, and I will look forward to the responses.

CN

Chances are, depending upon your particular community,the local police probably already know who is tuning in to ILLEGAL material at a given addresses. Nevertheless, your unique question should concern all landlords, and I will look forward to the responses.

CN

Chances are, depending upon your particular community,the local police probably already know who is tuning in to ILLEGAL material at a given addresses. Nevertheless, your unique question should concern all landlords, and I will look forward to the responses.

CN

AllyM, you are embarassing yourself. Again. First, what you described is not about quiet enjoyment. It doesn't mean what you think it does.

Second, landlords don't complain, they take action. Third, you don't tell the tenant anything. They issue notices to comply, quit, etc.

Fourth, you don't use arbitrary timeframes. These things take place in accordance with the laws of your state.

If you ever become a landlord you will learn these things.

Send the tenant a noise violation notice. Repeat issues will be grounds for lease termination.

It would be good to know your local municipal laws for noise disturbance. In my town, the regs say that "any noise heard outside the unit from the property line shall constitute a public nuisance."

Mutli-units are difficult by nature due to the close proximity of people and the variety of schedules folks keep nowadays. A land lord must be educated on the applicable standards and proactive in dealing with nuisances. Know the law, know your rights, and proceed accordingly.

One thing that might be in your favor: you are an owner - occupant. Some states give live-in owners special rights. You might be able to expedite the removal of problem tenants. I would spend 15 minutes and $50 to call a local, experienced, land lord / tenant attorney and get the correct legal answer in your area. Who knows? He/She might give you a free answer in hopes of gaining you as a future client!

Please remember Helen's question: "should I be concerned that I could be vulnerable or held liable in an any way for enabling this to occur on my property?"

No, you should not be concerned.

Most pornography is legal and you have not indicated anything to suggest that the Tenant (not you) is doing anything illegal.

Even if the tenant is doing something illegal, you are not Law Enforcement and you have no obligation to do anything about his potentially illegal conduct.

As AllyM pointed out, this is merely a noise issue, as if the T is watching John Wayne movies at a high volume. Trat is as a noise issue or ignore it.

Jeff (co) why be so hateful to ally

With the Police, Housing and other government departments -- each have their own set of rules THAT DON'T Conform to ONE RULE. You'd think it was a landlords responsibility to keep the neighborhood safe for women and children. Not so in Los Angeles.

It is so important that I don't discriminate, that I'm supposed to accept an applicant with little to no income and who's adult children hang around when they aren't in jail or committing crimes. Daughter turns tricks and so is a molester of underage girls.

Helen,

This is a noise complaint, plain and simple, an everyday issue in landlording. It should be spelled out in any proper lease.

What does your lease say?

My lease is clear: Any music, noise, activity, exercise, cars, mufflers, radio, tv, shouting, voices, singing, machinery, etc must not be audible in the next home or apt.

I make a copy of that page (every page has their initials at the bottom), highlight the clause, and deliver it to them.

Deliver a copy each day there is excessive noise.

Better yet each time the noise is excessive tape the notice to his door, knock loudly, and walk away. Mark successive notices SECOND NOTICE, THIRD NOTICE. Document that you delivered them. Evict after #3.

You don't say that the noise bothers you. If it does I would contact the tenant and let them know that it's too loud.

If it continues:

DON'T knock on their door, DON'T keep posting the same note, and DON'T keep marking the number of notices.

Funny how everyone just immediately "jumped" to the conclusion that this tenant is male. On that note … maybe (just maybe) the tenant does not realize or know that the sound is loud enough to be heard from other apartments?

If you haven't advised them of this as of yet (the sound carrying) you may want to. Hey (tenant), I'm not sure exactly what you are listening to at certain times but the sound is carrying through the walls and I can hear it. Could you be so kind to not have the sound turned up so loudly in the future?

That should be enough. If they continue to do so then I would ONLY concentrate on the SOUND - not what they are WATCHING. Also - I'm not sure how or if you could even filter out something on an application. What do you ask? "Do you watch porn loudly?"

Please tell me that if this isn't a joke you were at least not serious about the application/vetting of it.

Robert J: What the heck does ANY of that story have to do with this simple noise issue??

Sheesh.

-John

How loud is the volume of his pornographic viewership? Is it only noticeable when you tightly press your ear to the wall? Or can you still hear it when you're in your apartment minding your own business?

The only thing you should be concerned about is a potential ADA compliance issue in the future. All that pornographic video watching could create a need for a seeing eye dog in his future.

"I just thought that I'd do it until I needed glasses!"

;)