Q: My residents are getting unsolicited letters from investors that are claiming they can get the tenant into another home that they can own, at the same amount they are paying in rent. Is there any way I can stop this?
A: You can obviously put up signs on a property prohibiting solicitors, but that won’t stop the mail from being sent. There is no way to completely stop unsolicited mail being sent to your tenants. The best chance you have is if you see the same third-party group doing this repeatedly, you may be able to threaten them with a lawsuit for tortious interference with a contractual relationship. It is not a cheap lawsuit to bring, but even the threat of it may get the solicitors to stop. To prevail on a claim, among other elements, you would have to show that the third party knew of the lease and they caused your tenant to breach your lease causing you damage. If a tenant did skip out on a lease because of this, such factors may be present. However, if a tenant merely doesn’t renew at the lease expiration, then there is no breach upon which you can rely.
By Mark B. Zinman, Zona Law Group