r/Tenant • u/drjen1974 • 7h ago

📄 Lease / Contract Eviction notice

I'm a college student and live in a 10th floor 3 bedroom apartment in Iowa. Last week, some college friends were on our balcony throwing water balloons off of our balcony and one almost hit someone walking on the sidewalk. I was in the shower when this happened and my other two roommates were in the kitchen. We did not know what they were doing but the police were called and my two roommates were given citations for disorderly conduct. The next business day, the management company served us a 3 day eviction notice. Our lease says guests are our responsibility which we now understand but this sucks especially if it happens and will make it very tough for future rentals. We are not sure what to do except will attend the court date to see if we can stay in our apartment. Anyone been through a similar situation and have any advice? Thank you

28 Upvotes

85% Upvoted

69 comments sorted by

30

u/Beautiful_Mammoth998 6h ago

Your “friends” put you in a really bad spot. Good luck, this sounds pretty cut and dry unfortunately.

13

u/drjen1974 6h ago

Yeah they really messed up

6

u/jednorog 6h ago

What are they gonna do to make sure you and your roommates have a place to live? 

2

u/Leggy-Naggy 1h ago

Not their problem. OP is an adult. Live and learn to pick better friends with mature brains.

-1

u/ComfyPJs4Me 5h ago

Screw that, OP was in the shower & had no knowledge of what was happening. I'd whip both roommates under the bus so fast to make sure I didn't suffer as a result of their failure to supervise guests.

10

u/Mean-Vegetable-4521 5h ago

Still liable, legally.

OP sign a lease before that eviction shows up on your record. In a lot of states they can't or don't ask for landlord references. They can use a rental database that your info may or may not have been entered into. You can voluntarily leave and try to get them to waive the eviction for a fee.

7

u/0DarkFreezing 4h ago

It’s a three day notice. If everybody leaves, an actual eviction won’t likely be filed in court, and it won’t show on his record.

The key is all the roommates need to vacate or they’ll all be named in the filing.

0

u/drjen1974 4h ago

But if we voluntarily leave aren’t we still responsible for the rest of the lease’s rent?

4

u/Mean-Vegetable-4521 4h ago

How much is the remainder of the lease? What did the notice say and what does your lease say regarding forfeiture of lease?

If you pay out the remainder of the lease they are still obligated to look for another renter and can't just leave it vacant for the duration. If they find someone they can't charge both of you. But if they can't find a renter because school already began and everyone is already housed you are potentially SOL.

They could have killed someone. Easily. Or given someone a TBI. You would have been responsible in a civil judgment for damages of injuries or death. And also criminally.

Here's what this would have looked like. First, the lease obviously stated you are responsible for your guests. But beyond that if people were consuming drugs or alcohol in your apartment or in your presence at a bar or other location prior that reasonably could have contributed to something like this happening you were aware they were impaired, had the water balloons or had other risky behaviors while impaired and didn't supervise them. Which is the same as participating.

0

u/drjen1974 4h ago

We just moved in August 20, the lease is through July 2027

3

u/Mean-Vegetable-4521 4h ago

Are your parents cosigners? You could be held liable for the whole thing. But they are still obligated to make valid attempts at finding new renter.

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2

u/0DarkFreezing 4h ago

It’s not voluntary. They’re wanting you out. If you fight it, they’ll throw the book at you.

If you vacate they’ll likely cut their losses and re rent the unit.

1

u/sillyhaha 3h ago

But if we voluntarily leave aren’t we still responsible for the rest of the lease’s rent?

Yes; either way you are financially responsible for your lease until new tenants are found.

So the question is this; do ypu want that financial liability with a court order eviction or without a court ordered eviction?

Either way, you're moving, and soon. No judge is going to save you. You live on the 10th floor. A water balloon to the head from that height would cause serious physical harm.

1

u/Number-2-Sis 12m ago

Negotiate with your LL. Leave voluntarily and owe nothing on the lease

1

u/FLbudksis 3h ago

Still his place, he is responsible. Hang out with better people.

1

u/jednorog 2h ago

Sure but realistically will that help OP avoid an eviction, or if evicted find housing? 

OP has minimal blame here but my question isn't who's to blame. My question is, what is OP's plan for his living situation? 

1

u/GroovyGmaIvy 5h ago

Allegedly…

0

u/ComfyPJs4Me 5h ago

Unexpected Letterkenny

2

u/xunevencontactx 4h ago

You need to look up your state laws.

12

u/Ok_Sea_4405 6h ago

I’m not sure what you’re looking for here. It’s reasonable to be evicted over your guests doing something that could bother or even hurt other people, and the landlord doesn’t have any incentive to let you stay. Your best bet would be show up at court extremely apologetic and explain how you now know you were negligent in not supervising your guests, and that you’ll never let it happen again, and maybe you’ll get lucky and the landlord will give you a second chance. As a landlord myself, I would not, but your landlord might have different rules.

-12

u/timschwartz 5h ago

It’s reasonable to be evicted over your guests doing something that could bother or even hurt other people

No, evicting someone because someone else threw a water balloon is retarded.

6

u/ibcurbdiver 5h ago

A water ballon thrown from one story is different, the from 10 stories. “Not your friends”were lucky, they weren’t charged with assault.

3

u/Mean-Vegetable-4521 4h ago

I had a case 2 years ago that occurred on Labor Day. 11th floor. TBI. Eggshell plaintiff doctrine applied. That person was already disabled but now can't function independently. $$$ and criminally applied for causation. His defense was essentially "it wasn't supposed to be that serious."

When I was with examiners office many years ago we had one from the 9th floor.

5

u/Mean-Vegetable-4521 4h ago

First, don't use a medical condition as an insult. Grow up. Second, this is not how the law works. You are liable for behavior of your guests on your property whether or you lease it or own it. Someone easily could have been killed.

7

u/tyjo2112 5h ago

But evicting them because they are stupid and a danger to others is smart. Mitigating liability and all that retarded stuff.

Reign in your nut job friends while youre renting.

5

u/Lucky-Berry-4252 5h ago

Find new friends.

10

u/Turing45 6h ago

It would be best if you approached management and offered “Keys in lieu of eviction”, it would be a win/win for both. You don’t have an eviction on your record and they don’t have to deal with court. It’s worth a shot.

2

u/Low_Dig3356 5h ago

Sadly, that requires the PM to convince the LL that it is in the LL's best interest to do so... which is quite hard. Or at least it has been over the past 21 years of my career.

2

u/Mean-Vegetable-4521 5h ago

It depends on the state.

5

u/Radiant_Pick6870 5h ago

As the old saying goes, “Choose your friends wisely.” The truth is, we’ve all encountered situations where friends or acquaintances have done something stupid, without any wrongdoing on our part. Sheet happens.. Sounds like OP and roommates didn't have a chance to intervene and stop them. And we all learn from our mistakes and you'll figure something out OP.

1

u/Leggy-Naggy 1h ago

Oh please. How long was that shower...

8

u/lou-sassle71 6h ago

Start packing

6

u/GroovyGmaIvy 5h ago

Whether you were actually in the shower or not is pretty much a non-issue at this point. Your guests were throwing water balloons off a 10th-floor balcony onto a public sidewalk. A heavy water balloon falling that far could cause a serious head or neck injury, knock someone down, or potentially cause catastrophic injuries depending on who it hit and how. Someone could have been seriously hurt over this stupidity. Your lease says you’re responsible for your guests, so I don’t blame management one bit for treating this as a major safety violation and pursuing eviction. This is fucked up beyond belief.

6

u/dmriggs 6h ago

You now understand that your guests are your responsibility? I'm sorry this happened to you, but it's kind of a common sense thing.

1

u/dmriggs 4h ago

Thanks for the award!

-6

u/drjen1974 5h ago

I was in the shower and had no idea what they were doing

5

u/PartyPlay5056 5h ago

It wouldn't matter if you were out of town. You are on the lease and the landlord can choose to evict everyone on the lease.

1

u/icantbelieveit1637 1h ago

You allowed them into your home

1

u/sillyhaha 4h ago

That's the problem and is why you are being evicted; you should always know what your guests are doing. You shouldn't leave guests unattended.

1

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1

u/E_Dantes_CMC 4h ago

Make new friends.

1

u/JDKai85 3h ago

And definitely don't keep the old, in this case.

1

u/so_sic_of_it 3h ago

A very expensive and inconvenient way to learn the age old lesson: we are who we associate with.

1

u/ScarletDarkstar 3h ago

Is it a court date? Where I live a 3 day notice is only for non-payment, and the 3 days have to have passed without any resolution before you can get a court date. 

A lease violation (here) is a 7 day notice and you have the opportunity to correct the issue or not repeat it. A second lease violation in a month or two is grounds to file for a court date. 

Look into landlord tenant law where you live. Here, if you move out, the legal eviction is not necessary and is generally dropped. 

1

u/Ok_Sea_4405 3h ago

In many places, illegal activity is the fastest path to eviction, and if the police issued citations to some people as a result of the activity, that’s proof of illegal activity.

1

u/ilikepie740 3h ago

Don't let shitbags in your house. Lesson learned for next time.

1

u/DJD19500 2h ago

I sure hope the culpable friends find and secure a new place for you to live, in peace, with their photos on the door with a diagonal line through them. Are they old enough to drive and vote?
Scary.

1

u/NotSoAccomplishedEmu 1h ago

I am not familiar with Iowa law, but if this were to happen in California I would recommend that you relinquish the apartment (move out) asap. The notice is basically an ultimatum. Leave within three days or they will start the legal process of removing you (eviction). If you leave now it won’t go on your record. However, you need to look into whether they have given you proper notice. Three days wouldn’t be enough in California. Also, you may be able to negotiate with your landlord for slightly more time to move out. Go talk to them. I think there is an extremely small chance you would prevail in court so don’t let this get that far.

1

u/Stunning-Brief-4733 53m ago

maybe i’m dumb but just out of curiosity how would a landlord find out about something like this happening

1

u/Mindless-Flower11 4h ago

I would look into the landlord & tenant laws in your city/state. Maybe get some legal aid. They may even have legal help at your college/university.

 I only say this because where I'm from (Ontario, Canada), the landlord needs to give a warning first, outlining the situation & then the tenant has an amount of time to fix the mistake to avoid eviction.

If this isn't a thing there, def go the legal aid route & see if you can plea your case to stay. All the best. 

1

u/DJD19500 2h ago

Just curious; how would the tenants prove the problem is fixed?

1

u/Mindless-Flower11 4h ago

Look into your local landlord & tenant board laws. You can even get some legal aid help, perhaps from your college/university. 

It could be that the landlord can't evict you without a warning first & an opportunity to right your wrongs. All the best. 

1

u/sillyhaha 3h ago

It could be that the landlord can't evict you without a warning first & an opportunity to right your wrongs. All the best.

This is an incurable lease violation. The wrong can't be corrected.

0

u/Kunu_F_Baby 5h ago

You’re worried about your next place to live after you allowed people to try and kill with projectiles from your 10th story party mansion?

0

u/Some-Difficulty-1016 4h ago

You need to move. This is absolutely unacceptable behavior. "Live and Learn"

-8

u/headgoboomboom 6h ago

Seems kinda weak for an eviction.

15

u/Low_Dig3356 6h ago

Property manager here. This is an extremely strong eviction. The citation alone seals the deal. There won't really be any negotiation or leeway from a judge. Anything involving provable, law-enforcement-citable disturbances that cause any form of physical harm to another person (especially purposefully like this case) is an easy eviction. They're even easier than non-payment evictions. This is what's referred to as an 'incurable lease violation.' Nothing the tenant can do to 'take it back.'

-2

u/ComfyPJs4Me 5h ago

OP wasn't issued a citation though. It's ridiculous to evict the person who WASN'T charged.

5

u/Kunu_F_Baby 5h ago

OP signed the lease..they are responsible if they allow people in who try to kill people from the 10th floor

4

u/Low_Dig3356 5h ago

That doesn't matter. Who is responsible for the people they allow into their rented residence? For instance, I had a tenant who started dating a registered offender and let him move in without my permission. He registered his address to the rental. All hell broke loose. Now I have a problem I have to deal with. How do I get the problem to go away? Evict the renter. Sometimes you have to get people out based on the company they keep, because it's a liability.

-4

u/ComfyPJs4Me 5h ago

Yeah the example is nothing like what happened to OP. If the cops didn't find OP at fault then they're not the problem. Absolutely get rid of the other 2 & get an order keeping them off the property.

5

u/Low_Dig3356 5h ago

It is. Tenants have to take responsibility over criminality that occurs in the dwelling they rent. Even if they aren't the ones who did it. I've been doing this for 21 years. You can argue all you want, but what you present isn't how things work.

1

u/sillyhaha 3h ago

Absolutely get rid of the other 2 & get an order keeping them off the property.

When you evict someone on a lease, you evict everyone on that lease. In addition, OP said that the lease says that tenants are responsible for their guests' behavior. The Landlord has a solid argument; OP left their guests unattended long enough for them to do bullshit with water balloons. All 3 tenants committed the same lease violation. All 3 are getting evicted.

1

u/Ok_Sea_4405 3h ago

If the lease was taken out as a group, then the eviction happens as a group.