Kudos to Duluth's finest for their proactive patrolling of student rentals ("Crackdown kept parties quiet," May 20). Most students are great young people, and they make excellent tenants. But they are also away from home and like to unwind with their fellow students.
Rather than sit back and field angry complaints and then hold landlords responsible for the tenants' actions, police made contacts at many parties, stopped under-aged drinking in several cases and minimized neighborhood disturbances.
This was a bold decision in these times of budget constraints, but look at the positive results. Isn't timely patrolling better than fining a landlord or evicting students over a bad party? Having a squad car pull up is a much better deterrent than putting "no loud parties" in the house rules portion of leases.
Likewise, community police officers play a major role in helping with problem tenants. Duluth Officers Barry Midthun and Bill Stovern have notified me about police calls to my rentals, which has helped me understand who is causing trouble. When I have a handful of police reports about a tenant, it is much easier to confront that tenant about his or her behavior. If the offenses do not stop, I have good grounds for
eviction.
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I appreciate the actions of
all these officers, for helping me
to run good rental properties
and be a better neighbor in the community.
LARRY THEIVAGT
Duluth
