New Year’s Eve celebrations are huge in the United States. It is one of the country’s main social holidays. People from all over the country gather with family and friends in their homes, go to private parties, or join large public celebrations. They enjoy these festivities as a way to welcome the new year and say goodbye to the old. Your Tampa tenants, too, will possibly celebrate New Year’s Eve with a fun social event. For this reason, on the issue of your renters throwing parties, it’s essential to know what solutions are available to you to keep these parties in check and reduce the risk to your rental home. You can use a proactive approach: from the language in your lease documents to proper enforcement of its terms.
Putting up safeguards so that your tenants’ New Year’s Eve celebrations don’t become over-crowded parties that increase the risk of damage and liability can prove to be difficult. As a case in point, if there is a party on your property, how many people are allowed to attend and how many would be considered too many? Would it be legal (or even a good idea) to try and limit the amount of alcohol served? What if the celebration your tenants want would be to use traditional fireworks or noisemakers at midnight?
These questions and others like them can all be handled proactively in your lease documents. The wording in your lease should explicitly limit the number of heads that are allowed on the property at any moment; if there is a need to have more people above the limit, special permission must be sought. The specific number can vary, but “no more than 10 for fewer than four hours” is a popular option.
While it isn’t legal to place prohibitions on the alcohol consumption of your renters and their guests, you can stipulate using specific language in your lease that addresses illegal activities, and make it abundantly clear by writing down the specific consequences of approving such action on your rental property in Tampa. Consider, also, prohibiting excessive numbers of people– with that, a large number of cars– and unreasonably loud noise. Fireworks should not be allowed at all of your rental homes, and you might have to place a specific statement for holiday-related activities (such as loud music or noisemakers) that would produce a public nuisance for the whole neighborhood.
Another option you have is to require your tenants to get renters insurance including renters legal liability. Because, if they do throw a large party on your property, the probability of damage and injury increases considerably. If damage or injury does happen during the event, you could be regarded as answerable unless your tenants have their own insurance coverage.
Finally, protecting yourself and your rental home requires diligence in enforcing the terms of the lease agreement. If a party gets disruptive and loud, destructive, or illegal activity is taking place, it’s necessary to be swift and decisive in holding your renters accountable.
The great news is you don’t have to deal with all of this by yourself. At Real Property Management TradeWinds, we will ensure that your lease documents include specific and binding language while monitoring activity, watching for those things that may not comply. Please contact us online or call us at 727-400-4722 to learn more about how we can serve you.
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