In the June 9, 2010 Santa Cruz Sentinel Newspaper, www.santacruzsentinel.com page B3, there is an article by Shanna McCord about the crack down on party homes in Santa Cruz. The City Council passed an emergency ordinance not allowing repeat offending property owners from making renovations to their properties that would increase the number of bedrooms or the capacity to house more people.
As a local Property Manager, I agree with the City Council. I think property owners should be forced to follow the same laws that we do. I think property owners (and I am one myself) need to be responsible owners not just to their tenants but to their neighbors.
I have lived next to a party house and I can tell you it is hell on the neighborhood. I complained but what can you do with an owner that lives out of the area or just doesn’t care. I took the route to be friendly to the tenants and let them know when the noise was too much. It helped until the next round of students moved in and it started all over again.
As a professional property manager, I do not allow my residents to disturb their neighbors. If I get a complaint I check it out and then the tenants get a 3 day notice to perform or quit. If it happens again they are given notice to move. I make it very clear to tenants prior to moving in what is acceptable and what isn’t acceptable.
If you communicate clearly what is expected of people and what they can expect of you 99% of the time they do the right thing.
In my experience when I get calls from property owners who want me to rent their property on the west side of santa cruz I ask how much rent they get and when they tell me $5,000 for a 3 bedroom I know that I am not the property manager for them. I don’t want to work with this type of owner. They want to get as much money as they can, they rent rooms, they don’t maintain the property and the kids have parties and ruin the property further because their rationale is that I am paying all this money for this crappy place…
I work very hard to have an excellent reputation in the community and I realize students need a place to live and this type of owner only makes things harder on everyone, me the professional, the students who are responsible, the neighbors who want to live in a quiet area and get along with their neighbors and the city council.
Enough complaining – here are some steps to take if you do live next to a party home.
- get to know the students
- take pictures of problems
- call the police, again and again if you have to
- contact the property owner and try to work with them
- contact the property management company if there is one
- complain to the city council, the university
- if all else fails, have an attorney write up something on behalf of the neighborhood and have letter sent to students, university, and owner.
Sometimes making yourself the squeeky wheel does work but I do find if you take the steps to be friendly with the students they will often respond better when you knock on the door asking for the music to be turned down.
Please check out my website at www.PortolaRentals.com if you are interested in properties in Santa Cruz or have rentals in Santa Cruz, CA.
Kathleen Richards
