Teenagers home alone for a month in rental property

[Silvius]

An unusual situation, something I haven't dealt with before and would be interested to see what people think. I've discovered that my tenants are out of the country for a month and have left their two teenagers (15-17) behind. I found out because the neighbours called me about house parties and anti-social behaviour going on up there. Naturally the kids have loads of friends staying over and are living it up with the parents away. This isn't your average rental property, it's a really high-end house and am very particular about who I rent to as really don't want it to get wrecked. The tenancy has gone really smoothly up to now (4 years) with no issues, they've been ideal tenants and I've been very good to them as well, negotiating a rent way below market rates, but this has shocked me. I wouldn't give kids the run of the place for the weekend never mind a month and am worried about what might be going on up there. From what I've heard already from the neighbours the friends staying over are a rough crowd. Am I being unreasonable? I've already been in touch with the tenant and they don't see the problem as they say their kids are really responsible. Thoughts?

 

[Mousehelp]

I have sons the same age and have never left them over night. Are they not minors? I certainly would not be happy with if.

 

[Leper]

I emigrated to the UK on my own at age 17 and occupied a flat. If you cannot give responsibility to someone of that age to toe the line, in Ireland there is something very wrong.

 

[torblednam]

I emigrated to the UK on my own at age 17 and occupied a flat. If you cannot give responsibility to someone of that age to toe the line, in Ireland there is something very wrong.

I reckon you are probably 2 full generations removed from the 17-year old of today, leprous one.

The fact is, there is something wrong, that's why the OP is posting!

 

[Silvius]

In Ireland technically you can't take out a lease on a property until you're 18, the official age of adulthood. Another aspect of this is that from what I can gather the 17 year old is staying out in the boyfriend's house most nights so the 15 year old is there alone a lot. A family friend is supposed to be keeping an eye on the place but hasn't been around.

 

[Thirsty]

Whilst there is no legal age at which children under the age of 18 can be left unsupervised; the test of neglect is what a reasonable parent would do.

I don't believe it would be considered in any way reasonable to abandon minor children for an entire month; and in this case I believe the parents could well find themselves charged with neglect.

It is not in the children's interest that they continue to be neglected.

If (heaven forbid) you were aware that the children were suffering non-accidental injury you would not hesitate to take action.

Whilst the injury is not physical, it is clear from your description that the children are at risk.

You must report this to Tusla and the Gardai and give them the full facts you are aware of.

And you need to make that call now, not in the morning.

 

[Clamball]

Caravan parks always insist at least one of the parents who rent the plot for a mobile home are present whenever the mobile home is occupied for this very reason. Teens & young adults left alone will have a party, make noise, and disturb a quiet neighbourhood.

Now that you have had a complaint should you not insist on an immediate inspection, with the tenant present? You should check your lease about inspections and follow your agreement. You are concerned about damage and need to check it out.

The right or wrong about the parents actions should not be your primary concern. Tell the neighbours to phone the guards in future if noise & unsocial behaviour disturbs them.

 

[Thirsty]

Now that you have had a complaint should you not insist on an immediate inspection, with the tenant present?

Parents are still abroad and clearly see nothing wrong with their actions.

The right or wrong about the parents actions should not be your primary concern. Tell the neighbours to phone the guards in future if noise & unsocial behaviour disturbs them.

There are two minor children at risk, right now today. That should be everyone's primary concern.

If the OP was a mandated person, there would be professional and possible legal consequences for failure to report.

 

[LS400]

There are two minor children at risk,

Such a drama queen,

If a 17 year old was walking down O'Connell Street attacking people, would you still consider them to be a minor child, gimme a break. Whilst the situation is not ideal, Guards, tulsa, ah, stop.

Leper is right, they should be old enough to take responsibility.

You must have a contact for the parents, call them to say the situation is not acceptable, and action will be taken its not addressed.

 

[NoRegretsCoyote]

In Ireland a landlord can be held legally responsible for a tenant's anti-social behaviour.

At the same time it is very difficult to prove anti-social behaviour to terminate a tenancy at the RTB.




In your shoes I would send a registered letter to the tenants setting out your concerns about anti-social behaviour (list it all) and expect it not to happen again. You may need a paper trail at some point in the future.

Otherwise it's not your business to go calling the Guards or Tusla either. This is bad parenting for sure, but not "neglect" in any sense of the word.

 

[Thirsty]

Such a drama queen,

If a 17 year old was walking down O'Connell Street attacking people, would you still consider them to be a minor child, gimme a break. Whilst the situation is not ideal, Guards, tulsa, ah, stop.

Leper is right, they should be old enough to take responsibility.

A. You clearly do not have any understanding of child proection or child abuse.

B. The minor children have demonstrated that they are not acting "responsibly", which is no surprise.

C. Minors are indeed treated differently from adults in the area of criminal responsiblity.

 

[Silvius]

Thanks for the replies. I've been in the property, checked it out, spoken to the parents and set out my concerns in writing. They're coming home and have sent the family friend over to stay until they get there. I'm not convinced they fully get what the problem is and seem to be in denial about the children's behaviour but at least they are taking action now.

 

[Thirsty]

In Ireland a landlord can be held legally

Otherwise it's not your business to go calling the Guards or Tusla either. This is bad parenting for sure, but not "neglect" in any sense of the word.

Simple solution.

OP does not have to make a judgement; there are people employed and professionally qualified to do so.

If you witnessed two people exiting a house through a broken window carrying goods, you would not stand there trying to figure out if a law had been broken, you would report it and let the Gardai do their job.

 

[Thirsty]

To all those who think this is "drama" consider that
one of the most shocking aspects of child abuse cases is how many people know or suspect but don't take action.

Don't let yourself be one of those people.

 

[Leper]

Such a drama queen,

If a 17 year old was walking down O'Connell Street attacking people, would you still consider them to be a minor child, gimme a break. Whilst the situation is notIn ideal, Guards, tulsa, ah, stop.

Leper is right, they should be old enough to take responsibility.

You must have a contact for the parents, call them to say the situation is not acceptable, and action will be taken its not addressed.

In my opinion this is the Post of the Year and I agree with every word.

In our ongoing days of parenthood, Mrs Lep and I concentrated on resolving problems before they became problems. Ireland in many respects has become a dreadful Nanny State especially where teenagers are concerned. I'd love to expand on my thoughts, but I'm not because there's always someone trying to impose their so called ultra safe silly opinions on us good thinking people.

For the record:- I'm not referring to any poster on AAM.

 

[DublinHead54]

There are plenty of adults in rented accommodation or in houses they own that have parties, damages home and disturb neighbours. I wouldn't consider having a party, having friends over and living it up as a sign of not acting responsibly. Appears the OP has gone to the house and has at least not indicated any damage.

I had a part-time job from when I was 16 and was driving a car at 17. I didn't want to go on holiday with my parents so they would leave me in the house by myself, I of course had friends over and some parties. I always considered this almost a right of passage, but I never considered my parents neglecting me. Whilst I was considered a minor legally, I was able to make rational decisions and look after myself. I would say as an adult, I have held more parties that have caused annoyance to neighbours and 'anti-social' behaviour than I did as a minor.

We tend to use an 'anti-social' behaviour tag for minors rather than adults.

 

[Silvius]

No damage, just mess and dirt, nothing that isn't superficial and can't be easily fixed. However I dread to think what it would have been like after a month. Re acting responsibly it depends on the context. In this case there was genuine anti-social behaviour by any standards. Also, friends invited other friends to the party and the whole thing got out of hand with a lot of the party-goers unknown to the person who was supposed to be in charge of the house.

The child protection issue is one aspect of this and I'm taking advice on that so don't want to say any more about it online but have considered the views of all who posted above.

The tenancy is the other issue, whether you think your kids are responsible or not is it ok to leave them in charge of a rental property for a month? I don't think so, I wouldn't be legally allowed to rent to them as only adults can be tenants, by law.

If there hadn't been the anti-social behaviour (I know, it's an awful term but don't know what else to call it) and the neighbours hadn't called me I'd be blissfully unaware any of this was going on and the consequences could have been a lot worse a month from now. I've lost faith in these tenants as I can't be sure this won't all happen again.