When (and How) to Communicate With Parents Without Undermining Tenants

When you’re renting out in a college town, many of your tenants will have guarantors, usually their parents, to ensure that the rent will be paid for if they don’t make enough money. Even if the parents of the tenants are not living in your property, their names are still on the lease. That means that, if something goes awry with your tenants, it is their credit on the line.

The parents of your student tenants would have a right to know what is happening to the property and their money. However, you do not want to completely undermine your tenants. They are trying to live on their own for the first time, and you want to give them the chance to be a responsible tenant before running to their parents. However, you have to toe the line. There are circumstances where parents or guarantors must be contacted so you can communicate with them and resolve issues. This is a good list of when and how you can communicate with parents without undermining your tenants.

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Poor Communication

As I’m sure you know, communication is important for any relationship between landlords and tenants. If your student tenant is poor at communication and doesn’t actively respond to any concerns, it may be time to reach out to parents. After all, if you are trying to give information, you need to get it across to the tenants. This can be in response to noise complaints, policy updates, or even emergencies in the building, such as a lack of hot water.

In cases of emergencies, your decision to communicate with parents needs to be much faster. Do what you have to do to convey important information, and this may make the tenant realize they need to improve their communication skills.

Genuine Concern

There may be times when you are genuinely concerned and are attempting to look out for your tenant. If you notice signs of depression, which is highly common among college students due to feeling homesick and rigorous majors. While it is not your responsibility to monitor the mental health of all your tenants, there are times you might find or notice concerning behavior. This could be loud sounds of crying, disturbing smells, or even noticing that your tenant hasn’t left their apartment in days. Some of these won’t be as easy to notice, especially if you don’t live close to your property, but be mindful of your college student tenants.

If you are genuinely concerned for your tenant, it may be time to reach out to their parents. Their parents can provide better support than you can, given that they know their child and want what is best for them. Do not think of this as undermining your tenant and their authority in their own life, but extending a helping hand when they may need it.

Extreme Damages

If you find that your tenant has been causing damage to your property, it may be time to contact their parents. Once again, their name, credit, and reputation are on the lease. Considering check-ups may be part of your routine as a property manager to ensure everything is running smoothly, make an immediate note of any damage you find. While normal wear and tear is natural, if you find holes in walls, infestations, or broken appliances, it might be time to communicate with parents.

This not only gives serious consequences to the parents and tenant, but to you as well, since you have to now fix everything.

Methods of Contact

Now that you have decided it is time to contact the parents of your tenant, you need to go about your communication methods in the best way. While phone calls are often the most direct method of communication, it doesn’t leave a paper trail with proof of communication and notice. For this, email becomes your best friend. Even if you speak on the phone, follow every single phone call up with an email detailing what you have discussed so that there is a record of it. Always document everything!

By utilizing email, you can also copy the tenant on the emails as well. You are not trying to go behind your tenant’s back by reaching out to their parents, but rather speak with them due to genuine concern or necessity. Your tenant still has the right to be involved in any and all communication regarding their living space.

Old-fashioned snail mail is more likely to get lost, so do your best to avoid that unless you need to physically send a signed lease or something similar.

Whenever you need to reach out to and communicate with parents, you are not undermining the tenants. You are not tattling on them if there is a genuine reason for concern or safety. Emergencies happen, and you need to be prepared to contact the necessary parties. In this case, parents are the best to reach out to.