My next door neighbor rents her home. She is retired and babysits her for family when in need. She doesnt take money. She got a letter from her landlord that if she continued her babysitting service, he would call the police. He has made a report to division of licensing. She of course isn't licensed, but these are her grandkids, nieces, each that watches for free.
She is sad and scared that police might show up and she doesn't know how to prove the toddlers are relatives.
I'm all for Looking out for kids but this is a clear reason why people need to mind their business.
Anyways does anyone know how unlicensed providers are investigated? Do police actually show up for this type of thing? We're in maryland.

Reply

I don't think the police will touch this matter. Licensing could be called , but if they are to her and its free, licensing should be fine with it as well..However, if she rents, and the landlord is concerned about property damage, noise and , he could evict I would guess, especially if she represented she had no children when she signed the lease. Hope it works out.

Reply

In most states it is not the police that show up. Usually it is someone from licensing.

What are the rules in your state? Can she care for relatives on a regular basis. If that is allowed the next part is how does she prove they are grand kids. Have each parent write out a statement with the childs name and how the child is related. Then they need to put their name, address, phone number and work number so it can be confirmed. If it were taken to court they may want birth certificates to prove it.

The degree of relativity is important in some states. in MO it is first degree relatives, meaning I can care for my kids, my sisters kids, my grandkids my sister, my step sister. But I can not care for my neices child. That is a second degree relative.

Reply

I would suggest calling your local licensing and see what the rules are there.

Reply

I know that each state is different. I know that I saw a story on the news about a woman in Indiana that was forced to stop babysitting. But, I think she was being paid by family, and was babysitting every morning before school, and taking them to school.

Whatever the story was, I remember thinking it was insane that the state got so involved. But, either way, she was not allowed to continue.

Reply

Sad that in this day and age, kids can't spend time at Grandma's without somebody getting upset...

Reply

Tell grandma not to answer the door. The state has no right to come into her house. If she lets them in she's opening up a can of worms. Then they can pursue the issue. If they can't get in, they can't do anything about it.
They use intimidation. She needs to be strong.

Reply

Cau The police will break door down in that situation. Because they will be concerned for the safety of the children.

Reply

A landlord can decide whether or not his tenants can have family over?

Reply

It's not just state regs you need to worry about. It also depends on the town! Where I live, in PA, I can watch 3 kids unrelated to me without a license. But my neighbor had a beef with me (unrelated to babysitting and really uncalled for) so she reported me to code enforcement in my town. When I told him I was abiding the state regs, he said I wasn't ZONED to run a business from my home... Even if the kids are related! That if I take ANY money, it's a business. I said, "fine, I don't accept money for it"... And he laughed and left. He really didn't care but had to come bc he was called. He took me at my word ( knowing full well I was just lowing smoke ) and he went along with it. Police usually only come if they think there is a child in danger, so the landlord COULD then call and say he heard screaming and/or excessive crying. He has the right to say you can't babysit for money in the house bc of liability issues.. I own my house and my insurance agent knows what I do, therefore has me covered for it.
Oh, and in PA, related kids are unlimited BUT must be child, or grandchild.. Not niece's or nephews or cousins ect... Which I think is bull! My baby sister is getting married and wants me to be her babysitter when the time comes, but that baby will count as one of my 3 unrelated!

Reply

But this grandparent is not being paid, she is watching some grandkids for free! I just don't see how the same rules apply...She is not running a business

Reply

But, what if the kids are being too rowdy? Maybe they are loud and tearing the house apart.

The landlord rented her the space, possibly without being told her grandkids would be there a lot. Maybe the renter has kids over most of the time, and they are being obnoxious?

The landlord should be able to have some control, while not being overly controlling.

The renters across the street had five kids, and they DESTROYED the house. They did over 40K worth of damage.

Reply

You should check your state's regulations and laws about this as well as the rental agreement. If she's not accepting money for it then it's not a business and therefor the landlord probably can't do anything about it. If she wants to get her landlord off her case about it she can probably put it in writing and have her family members each write a letter pretty much saying they are her sister/cousin/daughter and that she watches their child which is her neice/nephew/grandchild for free because she's family etc. and have it mailed to him certified.

Sounds like he's being a you know what. She can try to explain her situation or argue her point but unfortunately I don't how she is supposed to prove to him that she's not receiving money. If her lease/rental agreement says anything about how many guests she can have in her home etc then I can see how he can enforce something but that's probably not the case here and unfortuantely he may just continue to make her life difficult.

As ar as him calling the police ... for what? He has to prove that she's doing childcare as a business. I highly doubt that the police will break the door down without a warrant for suspicion of something and for that they'd have to have probably cause. If anything I'd welcome the police, they can't arrest someone for having family over ... but again, read the rental agreement and read the regulations. Even if she doesn't do childcare as a business your local regulations might protect her anyway. For example in CA she would be protected.

Reply

This is false. There are very limited circumstances where police can bust into your home without a warrant. The police will not get involved in a civil matter like this by busting in a door.

Reply

I am a licensed provider in Maryland and yes the laws are very strict - really unreasonable in my opinion. I was told by licensing specialist that it is illegal to care for a child who is not your own in your home for more than twenty hours per month even if no payment is received. So what about kids spending a weekend at grandma's? Illegal??? Really?? And my kids' friends who spend so much time here they "practically live here"? I seriously doubt this is a police matter. But it is definitely a landlord/tenant matter - that is a serious concern. This woman should be looking for a new place to live perhaps.

Reply

It is unfortunate that the laws have had to become so stringent. With so many illegal providers using this excuse to hide their under the table business, it has become a necessary evil.

When the state comes out it should be easy for her to clear up if they are truly family members, IMHO.

*Note: Legally Unlicensed and Illegal are two different things.*

Reply

Yes ... in CA:

Unlicensed: Illegal
Licence-Exempt: Legal. You don't need a license but are within the states laws and regulations but aren't regulated by child care laws and licensing.
Licensed: Legal. You need a license and are regulated by licensing regulations.

Reply