Notice To Other Residents On Sex Offenders?
I've had a resident convicted of sexual assault (a level one offense) on another resident. He's appealing conviction - we're moving ahead with eviction. While both are pending, we're unsure of responsibility/liability involved in notifying other residents of this person in the building, and any infringements on his civil rights in sending out such a notice. Our multiple attorneys can't find any case law on this - anyone have any knowledge of sending out a notice to other residents that there is a potential threat in the building?
In Illinois, we have web sites that detail sex offenders. By this, it becomes public knowledge, relieving the landlord of any liability to notify anyone. The questions becomes, is it legal to not rent to a convicted sex offender?
however I think that you should always be able to find someone more "qualified" to live in your rental. I have to like someone before I will rent to them. I don't think that is discrimination. I can only rent to one person so therefore I can't rent to the other 10 that applied. I would not hire a convicted child abuser to babysit my kids, why would I want a sex or any other kind of offender in my house?
Josh
[addsig]
As a landlord you can and should discriminate (to name a few) against:
-pet owners
-smokers
-drinkers
-criminals
-pedophiles
-those who can't afford your place
-people who yell at each other
-etc, etc, etc....
There are 5 (if I remember right) protected classes. Criminality is not protected. You can discriminate against people who drive Ford's, as long as you're consistant.
Hey,
On what grounds are you evicting?
Evicting on the basis of violation of several lease clauses having to do with interference with quiet enjoyment of others as well as compliance with all laws and regulations.
Hey,
So "the incident" (whatever occured) happened on your property? Is that how you are enforcing the peaceful enjoyment clause?
Do you have a clause that states tenants can be evicted if convicted of a felony or something to that extent?
The reason I ask is, I have never throught about an existing tenant become a sex offender and now I need to figure out a way to handle this situation.
Hey Bruce,
I have a clause in my rental agreement that states that any illegal activity of any kind is not tolerated and grounds for eviction.
Good luck,
noel
[addsig]
Hey,
Back to the original poster...what is a level one offense? Is this a felony? If they have been found guilty, did they not receive jail time?
I want to add a clause that conviction for any felony and/or violent crime would be grounds for eviction.
Adding a clause to the effect "any Illegal activity is cause for eviction" would be too broad and ambiguous to be enforcable. A speeding ticket could be grounds for eviction.
I'm not an attorney, but here's my understanding: in Massachusetts, at sentencing, the judge makes a determination of the level of the offense from one to three, three being the most serious. Mass courts have allowed level three offender info to be posted on the internet and made available to the general public. The offense by the resident I'm dealing with would most likely classify as a level one. While the conviction itself is public record, the dissemination of that information by a third party (us) might be construed as a violation of his civil rights (to privacy). We are attempting to balance the risk of claim by him for violation of his civil rights against claims against us by other folks living in the building who may be assaulted by him after our knowledge of his actions/behavior. Our determination is that the latter risk outweighs the former.
He has not yet been sentenced, which occurs separately from the guilty finding. For one reason or another there may be quite some time (months) between a verdict and the sentencing (and/or our prevailing on the eviction case). It is this interim period that we are concerned about notification to the other residents. The evidence produced at his trial indicated this behavior is a pattern for him.
Our leases have several clauses which taken together protect against a range of bad behaviour, from violating rules and regulations to violating statutes, to posing a threat to the health, safety, and/or quiet enjoyment of other residents. In the Boston Housing Court that seems to generally be the rule of thumb - if its a violation of the lease and it is a threat to the safety of other residents then possession can be gained (since Boston courts are heavily pro-tenant, just being a lease violation is no guarantee of possession).
Hey,
here is the clause that I added to my lease. I think it covers a wide range of criminal acts, but is specific enough to be enforceable. Does anyone have any other clauses or suggestions?
"In the event Tenant is convicted of a Felony and/or violent crime or is convicted of any illegal activity occurring on the Premises or commits a crime resulting in the Tenant being place on any public Sex Offender List, Management may terminate this contract, with 5-day notice, and require Tenant to vacate Premises."