When Landlord-Tenant Relations Turn Fatal
In 2024, two tenants in Detroit were involved in shootings that claimed their lives.
These tragic incidents happened within 5 months of each other, and both were the result of escalating landlord-tenant tensions.
So, as property managers in Detroit who’ve worked through countless tenant disputes and evictions ourselves, this news hit particularly close to home.
What if this had been one of our tenants? What if it were one of yours?
We feel these events have brought into sharp focus the need for better landlord-tenant relationships and safer eviction processes.
So today, we want to talk about how to address disputes with fairness, safety and humanity, so that another avoidable tragedy like this never happens again.
Two Fatal Incidents
Before we begin, we at Logical Property Management want to send our thoughts and prayers to the families of both of the victims.
Something as routine as an eviction should never turn violent, let alone deadly.
But unthinkably, that’s what happened on July 12, 2024, when Sherman Butler, 45, was fatally shot during an eviction at his Palmer Park apartment by a bailiff contracted by the court.
Read more about the incident here.
The second fatality occurred in early December 2024, when a former Detroit police sergeant, now a landlord, shot and killed one of his tenants on the city’s west side.
According to reports, the tenant and another resident had returned to the property to find their belongings in a dumpster. Confronted by the landlord, who was armed, the situation quickly escalated, ending in the tenant being fatally shot. Police recovered a firearm from the landlord and a warrant for charges is under review.
More details on this case here.
Learning From the Tragedies
These shocking incidents raise literally life-or-death questions about how evictions and tenancy disputes should be handled.
Evictions, particularly in high-stress environments like Detroit, require extreme caution.
Both tenants and landlords deserve to feel safe, and these tragedies remind us of what can happen when communication breaks down or conflict is allowed to escalate unchecked.
Advice for Landlords
Landlords play a pivotal role in maintaining peaceful relationships with their tenants.
By adopting empathetic and proactive strategies, property owners can help prevent disputes from spiraling out of control.
Here are our suggestions:
- Communication, Communication, Communication
Addressing concerns the right way—whether it’s late payments, maintenance issues, or complaints—helps you make sure that small problems don’t snowball into bigger conflicts down the road.
Remember:
Communication Starts at Rental Contract: Make sure you have clear lease terms that cover any potentially ambiguous issues (like who pays for utilities, repairs or gardening).
Then Remains Consistent: Don’t “set it and forget it” with your tenants. Set regular inspections and email or text check-ins to spot developing problems early on.
And Respectful: We can’t tell you how many conflicts we’ve seen escalate over catty text message exchanges between tenants and landlords. No matter how emotional you get, keep it professional.
That’s how appropriate landlord-tenant relations should be.
Not friendly, not resentful–just cordial and business-like.
- Understand Tenant Rights
It’s extremely troubling to us in the property management community to see cases where landlords are taking the law into their own hands.
Detroit and other cities have clear laws protecting tenants, particularly during evictions.
We cannot stress enough how important it is to follow these laws to the letter, not only to protect yourself legally, but for the safety of you and your tenants, also.
Click here to read the City of Detroit’s and the State of Michigan’s most up-to-date laws regarding tenant protections.
- Seek Mediation for Disputes
If tensions arise, mediation can be an invaluable tool to help lower the temperature.
Sometimes, a judge will order mediation, but it can also be a proactive way of solving problems before going to court.
Many cities, including Detroit, offer affordable or free mediation services specifically for landlord-tenant disputes.
Check out the Wayne County Dispute Resolution Center or MI-Resolve for more information.
- Treat Evictions as a the Delicate Situations They Are
Evictions are usually a last resort, after payment plans or mediation have failed, and they’re hugely stressful for everyone involved.
Imagine how your tenant feels when the bailiffs are at their door. Panic, dread, despair. A thousand things going through their head.
This is an emotionally-charged situation, so it’s important to keep things calm and neutral.
Always follow legal procedures, avoid escalating the situation with heated exchanges of words, and never confront a tenant alone and unannounced at the property.
Better yet: Don’t be there as a landlord yourself at all. If you don’t feel capable of handling it, send trained experts instead.
- Invest in De-escalation Training
Property owners, rental property managers, and even third-party contractors like bailiffs should be educated on conflict de-escalation techniques.
Training on how to approach volatile situations calmly can save lives.
This is especially important when entering high-stress or high-risk environments, like an eviction.
If you’re interested in taking some crisis management courses yourself, here’s an overview of all the de-escalation training centers in the Metro Detroit area.
- Document Interactions
Always get everything in writing.
Keeping detailed records of all communications, agreements, and the steps you’ve taken before initiating an eviction helps protect landlords while also offering transparency.
This kind of accountability can also help rebuild trust with your tenants after disagreements arise.
This is the best way to keep your relationship with your tenants as professional and safe for both parties as possible.
A Call for Safer Practices
Our prayers and heartfelt condolences go out to the families and loved ones of Sherman Butler and the unnamed tenant who lost their lives in these terrible incidents.
These kinds of avoidable tragedies should never happen in a rental home.
Better communication, education, and safety measures could have made all the difference in these cases. So we hope this advice helps in some small way to achieve a safer environment for all renters in the future.
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If you have any other advice for fostering safer landlord-tenant relations and conflict resolution strategies, please share them below.