Time to Lay Down the Law!

During my dinner this evening, I received two telephone calls from tenants at my new apartment building. One of the tenants allowed a drug dealer to be in his apartment and there was a disturbance. I told the tenants to call the police. They did and the police wouldn't come! I told the tenants that I would be down after I finished dinner. I've had the building almost two weeks and I decided that this evening would be the time to lay down the law.

Even though I wasn't really angry, I faked it. I was quite loud and told them that their time was up. We have a ZERO TOLERANCE POLICY to drugs and ANY further infractions would result in eviction. Fortunately, I have a reputation for being a hard ass landlord and they knew I wasn't bluffing (and I'm not). I explained that if I saw ANY druggie or drug dealer in any of their apartments for any reason for any length of time (even 5 seconds) that they would be evicted. I did a little yelling and a little cursing (something they could understand).

After I returned home, I called the head of the local Nuisance Abatement Board. I let her know that I had taken over the property and that I would be cleaning out all the riff-raff. I also told her that I needed the cooperation of the Nuisance Abatement Board and the police. She assured me that the board would do everything possible to help me (they fined the previous owner several times). My purpose in talking to the board was to be proactive and therefore avoid getting any nuisance complaints from the city while I'm cleaning up the rat's nest!

Tomorrow, I'm going to the police station and talk to the police Captain about the situation. I need them to respond when they are called and I believe that is their responsibility!!! Cleaning up the city is certainly as much the responsibility of the city and the police as it is the landlord! I'm going to ask that they do their part.