Tenant weed violation/lease termination - how should I respond?

Question

Hey all. Would love some advice on a tenant situation. I have a duplex where one tenant is moving out. The other tenant has been there several years. His lease is ending at the end of the month, and I had planned to renew it. He pays on time, but does not keep the unit very clean. Also, several years ago, during an inspection, I noticed a strong smell of weed, which is in violation of his lease. I issued him a warning and have not noticed a problem with it since.

However, the other day I was there showing the other unit in the duplex to potential tenants and smelled weed again. That unit is completely empty, so unless the previous tenant decided to come back and smoke in the empty unit (I highly doubt that), no one else has been there except for me. One can only assume that the smell must be coming from his unit.

Between the previous marijuana violation and now this, I decided to terminate his lease and gave him notice. His response was to say that it wasn’t him smoking, and that he would like to extend the lease.

How should I respond? Any thoughts or advice would be appreciated!

Drew Sygit · Answer

Everyone's given great advice, let's hope the tenant just moves out.

However, be prepared if they don't!

You should always try to operate like you will have to defend everything in court.

If the tenant protests and refuses to move out, and continues to pay rent - you will be forced to do an eviction for possession (instead for nonpayment).

For something like this, it may come down to tenant's word against yours in front of a judge.
So, make sure you've documented everything you can and be prepared to bring to court; the dates of the lease violations, copies of all notices to correct, and any phone calls, emails and texts.

Richard F. · Answer

Not likely he will stop smoking. If you gave him a proper notice as required by law, just advise the decision was already made, and inform him of the penalty for remaining past the specified date. Terminate and update/refresh both units now to maximize value at the busy start of the rental season. Tighten up your screening and your Rental Agreement. If you stipulate to "No Smoking", they can't smoke anything (confirm with local law, but "medical" users do have the option of edibles).

Stephen Delahoussaye · Answer

Ivy this is a situation we deal with regularly in property management. A few things to consider.

First, you are well within your rights to not renew the lease, especially with a documented history of lease violations. The key word is documented. You mentioned you issued a warning previously which is good. If you have that in writing you are in a strong position.

Second, the fact that the smell is coming through to the vacant unit while you are showing it is the real problem. That is costing you money right now. Prospective tenants are walking through and smelling weed in what is supposed to be a fresh empty unit. Some will walk away immediately and you will never know why.

Here is what I would do. Since his lease is ending at the end of the month anyway, simply dont renew. You dont need to frame it as a termination for cause. Just provide proper notice that you will not be offering a renewal and expect the unit to be returned in the condition specified in the lease. This avoids the whole argument about whether he was or wasnt smoking.

If he pushes back or refuses to leave after the lease expires, then you file for eviction based on holdover tenancy which is straightforward. But most tenants will leave when they know the lease isnt being renewed and they dont have a leg to stand on.

Going forward, make sure your lease has a clear no smoking clause that covers all substances and includes language about odors affecting neighboring units. That makes enforcement much cleaner next time.

JD Martin · Answer

My experiences with smokers of any type is that they come in two categories: considerate and inconsiderate. Most are considerate - no doubt helped along by the fact that public smoking in virtually any building these days is prohibited - and only smoke on the front porch or in the back yard. The inconsiderate ones, if it says no smoking in the lease, and they've done it anyway means they will continue doing it so that's up to you how bad you want them to stay there. Virtually guaranteed to keep smoking inside.

Jaron Walling · Answer

JD, this was exactly my thoughts as well. Luckily we haven't dealt with a smoker yet (knock on wood). When I was a renter years ago I lived with a guy for 2 years who smoked the green. When he moved in he tried to keep it a secret from myself and another friend. We had to call him out and make him smoke outdoors.

He was extremely lazy and didn't want to walk 15ft to the back door. I would not be surprised if he's smoking indoors to this day.

Tenant weed violation/lease termination - how should I respond?

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