Background: I live in a big house that is divided into several apartments. After increasingly weird behavior this past year, one of the downstairs tenants apparently started dealing, and this accumulated in a police raid on our house this past weekend. Said tenant is the landlady’s son, and he’s already back. Needless to say, I’m signing a lease on a new place on Friday and getting out of dodge.
Now, my question is: What obligation do I have to tell prospective tenants why I’m leaving? I posted an ad for my landlady on craigslist as she’s not good with the internet, but directed all calls to her. Some people are emailing me anyway, and a lot of them are telling me about themselves and what they are looking for in an apartment. There is a couple in particular that specifically ask for a safe space since the husband works nights and the wife is alone, and I’m really tempted to tell them “This is not the apartment you seek.” I don’t want to ruin my landlady’s chances of finding a new tenant, but I think people should know what they are getting into. That said, if I told the truth about this place, I doubt ANYONE would rent it. (Also, since I was on a month-to-month lease, I have no obligation to find a new tenant to take my place.)
So should I just keep my mouth shut and leave, or do I have an ethical obligation to let them know the truth?
If the landlady is allowing her drug-dealing problem child back into the house, then she is the one making life difficult for herself. I would warn the new prospective tenants.
Edit: Why is the responsibility of finding a new tenant falling on you?
I am helping because the landlady asked me, and I didn’t think about it at the time as being “an accomplice,” I just wanted to leave. I don’t think she is a bad person, and she was pretty upset about recent events. I realize now I should have just told her to handle things herself. It didn’t occur to me until people started asking me questions that I couldn’t impartially answer them. I guess I was just expecting them to call the landlady and not talk to me at all.
I’d warn people. You have to do what seems right to you.
A shop near where I work kept opening as a different variety of takeaway and kept going broke. It was only 50 yards around the corner from places that were making a mint serving rubbish, but it had no walk by customers no matter how good the food.
One day, when it was empty, I was walking past and an estate agent was “selling” the property to a young couple.
I walked down the street a bit and then went back to the shop to tell the couple that the shop was the kiss of death. They would lose every penny they put into it. They paid attention, the guy from the agency looked really angry. But as soon as I opened my mouth I felt better about the whole thing.
I’d tell people that they need to talk to the landlady, as she’s the one leasing the place not you.
But, if you feel a sense of obligation to potential renters, you might tell them to ask her about recent illegal activity in the place, and what’s she going to do about it.
Do you know, for a fact, that he’s going to continue dealing?
If not, then you don’t really have anything to tell, do you?
Anyone who wants to, can find out there was a drug raid, at your address, last week. I don’t think it falls on you to do the telling.
If this was your only issue during your time there I’d say, mind your own business and give the landlady and her son the benefit of the doubt. Let any future tenant make their own decisions, after doing whatever amount of research they see fit.
Would you rely on info from a leaving tenant to make a choice? Would you assign blame to them for their silence if the place proved faulty in some way? I don’t think I would do either.
The way I see it, you have obligated yourself to helping your landlady find a suitable new tenant, but you have no obligation either to inform or not to inform prospective tenants about the recent problems. And you don’t have to be consistent about it.
That couple that’s worried about safety? They’re probably not suitable tenants – they’ll probably be unhappy and looking to leave soon. Tell them. Other folks? Use your judgment. Don’t lie to anyone, but don’t go out of your way to discourage applicants unless you have good reason.
You went off the edge of morality by offering to help in the first place. You should inform the woman that you cannot help her because you feel obligated to inform new tenants about the situation that caused you to move. Apologize for your mistake, then leave. You weren’t morally obligated to get involved in the first place.
Yeah, I think you kind of erred by helping her get new tenants in the first place. I don’t know what I’d do now - it’s not my place to interfere with her business, but I also don’t like the idea of letting people walk into a bad situation that I know about.
I moved out of a place that had cockroaches once (they’re very rare here, and I was appalled). I left a cockroach trap with a cockroach in it in the lobby for prospective new tenants to see.
You know what? Screw the landlady. Tell everyone who asks that the landlady’s son is dealing drugs out of one of the apartments. If she wants to rent to decent people, she needs to get her drug-dealing son out of there.
Thank you for all the responses. I think elbows is right in that I’m not really sure if things are going to continue in a bad manner or not, so I shouldn’t make any judgement calls. But I think I will tell anyone that has asked outright about safety issues what I know (because I would feel like I was lying by omission otherwise), but direct everything else through the landlady. I do appreciate hearing everyone’s take on it, I feel like I focus on the wrong things when I over-think things like this, so it is nice to have outside perspective.
With what you know you should never have volunteered to help rent the place. Now that you are involved, you ask us whether you should lie and deceive prospective tenants. In my opinion you should pull your ad or at least refuse all contact with anybody about the place.
I’m not real sure how craigslist works but is there an option for you take all of your contact info out of the ad and leave only the landladys? Then you wouldn’t have to talk to any potential renters at all.
Stay out of it, and ignore the emails. Do you have a security deposit? If you start mouthing off, and word gets back to her, what do you think will happen to it?