| When an investor owns and manages apartments he | | | | The landlord's best action is to calmly explain to Barry |
| or she often has to make tough decisions. | | | | that owner/manager had nothing to do with the |
| Here's an example of one: | | | | disturbance. When the lease was signed Barry and |
| Barry and Terri, husband and wife, are tenants in a | | | | Terri had a joint responsibility to abide by the rules |
| four unit apartment building. They have a stormy | | | | and the law. Either party is responsible for the other |
| relationship that one evening erupts into a violent | | | | party. |
| domestic dispute. Terri calls police. The incident isn't | | | | This is true as a joint and several liability and in |
| quite exciting enough to be included in an episode of | | | | relationship to community property law. |
| "Cops", but Barry is arrested and charged with | | | | As landlord you could not evict Terri if she still |
| domestic violence assault. | | | | qualifies for the apartment based on her own income. |
| Directly after the arrest the couple separate and | | | | You can determine that from the information on their |
| Barry lives elsewhere. | | | | rental application. |
| The next day the landlord serves Terri with an | | | | Since the landlord knows that Barry and Terri have a |
| eviction notice for violating the quiet occupancy | | | | volatile relationship there is a good possibility Barry |
| clause in the lease. This landlord gets more grey hair, | | | | could return in a rage and, in trying to reach Terri, |
| because Barry, hoping to win his way back into | | | | attack another tenant. In such a circumstance if |
| Terri's heart makes a return. He comes screaming | | | | someone other than Terri were to be hurt, the |
| into the landlord's office demanding the eviction be | | | | landlord would be liable, since he or she knew about |
| cancelled. He says it was his entire fault, he was that | | | | the continuing problem. In situations such as this |
| one who was arrested and Terri shouldn't be | | | | management typically will evict the entire household |
| punished for his bad behavior. | | | | when domestic violence occurs. |
| What would you do in this situation? | | | | |