Neighbour complaint about tenants

frogglet

I agree, they need to report it themselves. They shouldn't be gossiping and potentially spreading untrue rumours. 

Falafels

Check before you do anything.

Years ago, I lived in a ground floor flat, and was getting concerned about how much the baby in the flat above was crying. The parents were very young - late teens. I wondered about contacting social services, but before doing so I thought I'd do the neighbourly thing and drop in to see how they were; the young mother was holding the baby tenderly but the infant wouldn't stop crying. She explained that the baby had recently been very ill, but had been discharged from hospital because, as the mother put it: "She's a sick baby - but she's not a dying baby."

There are many, many reasons why a child would be crying which have nothing to do with being mistreated. I was so glad I HADN'T reported my neighbours.

These days the thinking is more "Safeguarding is everyone's responsibility' rather than ignoring potentially dodgy situations. 

As the landlord, would it be in order to contact your tenant with a view to dropping in and having a look at the property and just checking to see if everything's OK?

Jeepers_Creepers

Yes it's hearsay, but GDP cannot now ignore it (not that I think they will). They are party to potentially very serious information, and they have a duty to report it.

Chances are there is nothing too amiss going on - just a mum being a bit stressed and tetchy; you only have to go to a supermarket to see such vocal displays being acted out in public.

But once you have been given such info, it's your responsibility to act on it, or make sure it has been acted upon.  

It's one thing in such situations you cannot keep as a secret. It's often in FAR more difficult scenarios than the one above, where you or this 'witness' don't even have a personal involvement. The most difficult part of being on the receiving end of a disclosure by a child - either the potential victim or a witness - is to not agree to keep what they're about to say a secret; you have to make it clear to them you cannot do this, but that they are still doing the right thing and they will be helped. Thankfully I've never been there. It would be the same situation if a close friend confided in you that they'd, perhaps, 'lost it' a couple of times and frightened themselves by how hard they'd smacked their child, and of course that friend will expect - or even ask - you to keep it your secret. You cannot. Now that is difficult. 

This situation? Meh.  :-)

Murphybear

The local council should have a department called Child Protection Services.  

When I was temping a few years ago I got an assignment in CPS.  There were a lot of screaming coming from one of our neighbours, obviously a child.  I talked to the CPS boss and she told me that I could make it official and she would follow it up.  She also told me you should never feel guilty about reporting anyone when you have a suspicion about a child being ill treated.

theoretica

If you pass these concerns on and there is nothing in them you will probably feel a bit foolish.  But that is so much better than if you didn't do anything and it turns out there was an issue.

numbercruncher8

TBH I'd follow it up. You can't unhear things.

From the point of view of a potential victim, it doesn't matter how many reports, or who reports, just that it is done. The worst case scenario is that it was true, and both parties left it to each other to do something about it, arguing about responsibility.

Perhaps the tenant has ulterior motives, or perhaps they are deferred to you because they are inexperienced and haven't found themselves in this situation before. But in any case, they may know already that if the reports are false they will probably be known as the ones who called the authorities, so that in itself is a motivation to be sure of what they are saying.

Either way, it is better that the facts are established so that you know what was going on, and that any reporting is credible.

So sit down with them and elaborate on their suspicions. Ideally, some kind of diary of events with some attempted transcripts, or if it is particularly loud, even audio recordings may help. 

There isn't enough information in the OP for anyone to really make a judgement on anything else.

pinkshoes

It's how the whole safeguarding thing works.

One person notices something they think could be nothing, but reports it anyway, so it's on record. Maybe even years later another person finds something odd and reports it. If there is genuinely something wrong, a picture will then begin to form on record and it can be dealt with quickly due to lots of evidence.

If I were the tenant, I'd go round and ask the mum if she needed any help. If she then still has concerns then I would report it to social services.

I'm grateful I live in a detached house. My 4 year old we suspect has ADHD or similar, and his behaviour can be manic. He can go from happy to complete melt down over something we have no idea about. And OMG can he scream!! I'm sure I would be reported if I lived in a flat. I have been *that* parent who had to drag their child to school to make sure the other two got their on time.

GDB2222

Thanks, everyone. I have given the neighbours details of how to report this. They have agreed to monitor the situation for a few days. It's not something where urgent intervention by the police is warranted.

TBagpuss

You could also let Social Services know yourself - if you do, explain specifically that you have not personally witnessed anything, that you are the landlord and that neighbours informed you, and  that you don't know whether or not the neighbours have reported it themselves . That way, if they are contacted by the neighbours they are aware that it's the same report, not 2 independent reports (which would suggest it might be more serious) 

Marvel1

They should report it themselves, as they know more about what is happening.

Any reason why they can't be bothered themselves?