My mother is a tenant in a duplex. Last week, the tenant on the other side was arrested for drugs, both possession and selling. This single mother has two teenagers and the three of them have kept Mom up all hours of the night banging and some noises even sound like gun fire. They continually block her entry/exit to and from her garage to the street by parking in her driveway. They have thrown trash and half-eaten fruit in her yard numerous times. The landlord has been called on several occasions, but appears to be spending time with the tenant, as both have recently divorced and he is very sympathetic toward her.
To compound this, my mother has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, is 84 years old and lives by herself. She is very "Self Sufficient" and is determined to stay that way as long a possible. Last week she had to go to the doctor to get help sleeping, due to all of the noise that goes on next to her and all of the worry they have caused her. Coming home and seeing 3 police cars around her (Mom's) house and 2 police officers escorting the handcuffed neighbor to jail, has put the nail in the coffin. This might have been an answer to Mom's problems, but it appears that the neighbor is in a rehab facility and may be out at any moment.
Mom has been a very good tenant and she doesn't need to put up with the junk that has been happening. Having drugs next door has scared her half to death. However, due to her terminal illness, she does not want to move, nor is she really able to. I'm concerned that the move would send her down hill (health wise) fast.
She doesn't want to call the police because (and she is right) all the police would do is to talk to the tenant and leave. Mom would then be left to deal with a mad neighbor. Does Mom have any legal right to expect the landlord to see that his tenants are are in a safe , peaceful environment?

Yes they do, but its very hard to enforce. Most leases allow the landlord to evict if the premises are used for illegal activities. But the landlord does not have to. The real issue here is that, you might be able to hold the landlord liable, but only in the event something happened to your mom. And I would assume you would rather avoid that. I would try helping her find a place that is more suitable.

Why go after the landlord? They aren't the ones causing the problems.
If the police are called often enough, the landlord may find a reason to evict the troublemakers.
Your mom could insist that the landlord insist her side of the drive be kept clear or tow the offending vehicle.
I know it's tough having nasty rude neighbors. Good luck.

I guess that we were hoping that, at a minimum, the landlord could be held responsible for the cost of Mom's move. I know that I could contact the State Attorney General's office and might get some action.
Here's the deal, Mom has been an exceptional tenant for several years. She has kept her side of the duplex in better shape than when she moved in. This landlord knowingly allowed this user/dealer to move in beside Mom. I assume that he did the same background checks that he did with Mom. This new neighbor is all over Case.Net with numerous arrests, convictions and outstanding warrants. It would seem to me that him knowing what she was would put him responsible for the safety and welfare of Mom. If the landlord wants that to go on in his housing, then I would expect him to be responsible for the cost of Mom's move. However, Mom is absolutely her own person, as many are from that generation. I'd say the landlord is in for a fight. I just hope that she doesn't pay for it with health consequences.

This is a iffy deal. On the one hand, the landlord is responsible to some extent to providing a safe environment. By allowing a known drug dealer to move in could be construed as endangering his other tenant. But I'm just not sure how a judge would rule. I doubt if the landlord is just going to agree to pay the moving expenses. But I'm just not sure whether a court would go along. I believe she can get out of the lease, but not sure about anything more.

Thanks Scott. I think I'm just going to try and talk her into moving and cut her losses. It's a shame when a sick, elderly person has to dip into their life savings because of uncaring people.

Have a great day!

But with that said there are drug dealers everywhere. I live in a nicer apartment building, and in the last three months there have been two dealers move into our apartment complex right in the next building.

But proving they are there is always hard. There has to be evidence that can be used in court, witnesses to testify, arrests and so on.
It may take months for these people to be arrested after notifying the police.

Next so you told them they are drug dealers, what does the landlord do? Notify it to the police. All that can be done is for them to try and prove it.

Mom should have called and continued to call the police... if the police were not notified, she has no record of the adjacent tenants' actions.

Please move mom away from that extremely stressful situation before she has any health issues get worse. Stress like this on an elderly lady is literally a death sentence.

The landlord will not pay for her relocation and I am highly doubtful of a judge ordering it also. It would be too long and involved a court fight that would put more undue stress on her and her health only to find out she lost.

The key here is like you said about the landlord spending time with the tenant. Sounds more like bedtime if you ask me. Your complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

Please move mom before it's too late otherwise you will never be able to forgive yourself. The landlord certainly sounds like he is NOT on the up and up and does not care about how good a tenant mom was/is. He's into other things right now. He knowingly rented to this trash.

If neighbor is in "rehab" (which I personally think is a joke) she will come back and her late night antics will escalate to be sure. Mom needs some peace and quiet in her life.

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Originally Posted by twinkiedooter

If neighbor is in "rehab" (which I personally think is a joke) she will come back and her late night antics will escalate to be sure. Mom needs some peace and quiet in her life.

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It is a joke. The staff goes as far as telling how to get "around" the system. Mom has agreed to move, if need be, but will likely wait until normal weather. For the moment, the other half of the duplex is empty and things are quiet. I hope the landlord reaps a "bumper crop" for what he has allowed.

Thanks, folks!