My renters are smoking pot...

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My renters are smoking pot...

Taylor Chiu
Real Estate Agent · Salt Lake City, UT · Member since 2014 · 473 posts · 230 votes

That title caught your eye, didn't it?

I have 4 tenants in this property.

So tenant A & B saying tenant C is smoking pot in the house (I've already given her a warning based on prior rumors). Also, tenant B says tenant D is doing it as well. I have written statements from both tenant A & B. Is that enough to evict the pot smokers?

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Mike B.Pro Member
Developer · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 434 posts · 357 votes
12y

saw this thread title in my email and had to come here and make sure it wasn't started by my landlord. Carry on...

847-857-8574
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  • Andrew SyriosPro Member
    Moderator
    Residential Real Estate Investor · Kansas City, MO · Member since 2014 · 10k+ posts · 5k+ votes
    12y

    I have a hard time getting up in arms about pot smokers. To me, it's like drinking alcohol. Unless they are causing other problems, I would probably not go so far as to evict.

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  • Mike B.Pro Member
    Developer · Chicago, IL · Member since 2013 · 434 posts · 357 votes
    12y

    saw this thread title in my email and had to come here and make sure it wasn't started by my landlord. Carry on...

    847-857-8574
    10Reply
  • Vicki Gleitz
    bennett, CO · Member since 2014 · 225 posts · 122 votes
    12y
    Originally posted by @Sean Brooks:

    Vicki Gleitz

    You have to be very careful. I am not a lawyer but as a Realtor we have know a little about real estate law. We also have a lawyer to get clarity on various subjects.What you described is a delicate matter especially in a state has legalizes the use.

    Statements by other tenants is considered hear say. To evict a person you need to have solid proof. Look at it this way. What if the other tenants do not like the one for whatever reason. If you evict this tenant and they sue you and they prove non of what was being said is true. If you have a lawyer speak with him or her. If you don't have one, get one.

     Um.  I'm not the OP. I totally oppose taking gossip as fact.

    1Reply
  • Josh Cannon
    Lemon Grove, CA · Member since 2014 · 2 posts · 1 vote
    12y
    Originally posted by @Jean Bolger:

    @Taylor Chiu 

     no, I wouldn't say obligated. But it could offer a level of protection if you were somehow held liable for the activity. I'm no expert, and a lot of this has to do with how aggressive the drug laws are in your area. It seems that lately the feds are deferring more to local laws for pot. So I'd at least get current on what those actually are, but I wouldn't lose sleep over it.
    Sylvia B is right, smoke ruins houses. But at least nobody smokes three packs a day of pot, so the damage wouldn't be anywhere near as fast or as extensive.

    this is why I love living in CA, where the landlords will puff one with you vs try to evict haha. i would much rather have my tenant(s) smoking weed and chilling then drinking alcohol and being loud/breaking stuff.

    1Reply
  • Curt DavisBusiness Member
    Flipper/Rehabber · Memphis, TN · Member since 2008 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    12y

    If your tenants are paying rent on time who cares!! 

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  • Vicki Gleitz
    bennett, CO · Member since 2014 · 225 posts · 122 votes
    12y

    So long as they are paying rent and not destroying the property or burying bodies in the basement, my house is THEIR home. [ y'all got any of those brownies left?]

    4Reply
  • Edward Briley
    None · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2014 · 126 posts · 50 votes
    12y

    @Taylor Chiu I am sorry I couldn't resist.  Click the link!!!

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WeYsTmIzjkw

    0Reply
  • John Hamilton
    Real Estate Transaction Engineer · Jacksonville, FL · Member since 2014 · 271 posts · 74 votes
    12y

    I would notify the police anyway, just in case something were to happen, like a raid.

    You were given written notification by other tenants, which makes you liable and may mean losing your place, if they want to get nasty about it, because you condoned the behavior by letting it persist.

    Eviction is difficult no matter 3 days or longer, or returning the deposit or not. Maybe them being arrested might give you the out you need to let the courts handle it for you.

    1Reply
  • William Hochstedler
    Broker · Logan, UT · Member since 2013 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    @Taylor Chiu 

    The form you found from the UtahLawLady might work.  A few years back they modified the language in 78B-6 which means that older notices that weren't updated get thrown out.  As @Mike Palmer suggested, get in touch with Paul and his folks over at UAA and pay them the $100 (or whatever) membership.  They have all the updated forms and good leases.  Moreover, someone might give you direct legal advice on the situation.  Way cheaper than an hourly lawyer.

    If some or all of the tenants move out and new ones move in, absolutely get a completely new lease in place.  If you are renting bedrooms or beds, get some bullet proof house rules and policies in place.  Isn't BYU famous for it's student policies?  Use their stuff for direction as it is famously restrictive:

    http://och.byu.edu/PDF/Handbook.pdf and https://policy.byu.edu/

    If they are students, I wouldn't permit alcohol as many may be underage anyway.  Bottom line is that if you are taking on the headaches of student housing, keep the rules tight and zero tolerance for shenanigans.

    To answer your question about the firearm, we had to relocate the roommates.  As it was summer we had some other spaces in the building.  Then we went back and pulled the application and called the references and emergency contacts asking for help.  A former employer had a good relationship with the tenant and helped us resolve the situation on a personal (not legal) level.

    @Account Closed Keep up the good work!

    Wm

    0Reply
  • Mark Cruse
    Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    It's legal in some states and is  no more than drinking a few beers. I would never hassle a tenant over that. I'm not their parent. If people pay rent and aren't bothering anyone it's really their own business. Someone said smoke ruins the house? There are really landlords that monitor the property to see who is?

    1Reply
  • Mark Cruse
    Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    It's great that some of you all don't own in the city or rough communities.

    1Reply
  • Edward Briley
    None · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2014 · 126 posts · 50 votes
    12y

    @Mark Cruse Who said no one did?  However if your tenants or neighbors of the property are complaining, especially to you,  about drug activity you better do something about it, or you may not be owning the property for long.

    0Reply
  • Mark Cruse
    Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    @Edward Baily, I guess it all boils down to what you are used to. From what I've seen here there is no drug activity. Drug activity usually is not a term associated with personal use. The neighbor just sounds like a prude. In the places I rent the police would laugh at you for calling in, saying a tenant is smoking weed. They would probably tell the other tenant that if there's no selling or major crimes associated with it, tell the other neighbor to mind their own business. Baltimore is so tenant friendly that I wouldn't be surprised if I get fined for trying to evict someone for smoking weed in the unit they pay for. I just have to encourage most of you not to sway away from those areas you invest and never come to a city.

    0Reply
  • Mark Cruse
    Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    I don't personally smoke weed but if I saw a landlord trying to evict someone else for their personal use, I'd move myself.

    0Reply
  • Edward Briley
    None · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2014 · 126 posts · 50 votes
    12y

    @Mark Cruse Now I did not say I would evict a tenant for doing their thing.  However, from what I read in the post, that a total of 3 of her tenants complained about one tenant.  She says she has a no smoking policy, and best I can tell they are all sharing the same apartment.  From what she described in her post, this is a lot deeper than someone just smoking pot.  If you have a no smoking policy, and all of the tenants have signed the same agreement, that the one that is breaking the policy needs to be evicted. 

    0Reply
  • Mark Cruse
    Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    I guess man. I'm just not familiar with stuff like that. It really must be little to no crime in this area for this to be considered an issue.

    0Reply
  • Edward Briley
    None · Virginia Beach, VA · Member since 2014 · 126 posts · 50 votes
    12y

    @Mark Cruse Yeah, but you would not have a no smoking policy either.  Really it is a non significant thing, but if you do have the policy, and someone is breaking it, to the point it is bothering your other tenants, it has to stop. I am someone that believes my tenants are living in their own home providing they pay their rent.  Now I stayed in a boarding house years ago, and they had a no smoking policy in the rooms, but there was a common area for smokers, and one for non-smokers.  The other smoking area was in the basement with the washing machines, if you catch my drift, and all joined there from time to time, even the owner.  The ones that were not interested did not even know about it.  Must have had 20 or more tenants in that house.

    0Reply
  • Hattie Dizmond
    Investor · Dallas, TX · Member since 2014 · 2k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    What the heck?  So, you guys that are telling her she is the landlord, not their mother have no problem with the fact that the LAW is being broken?  In and on your property?  Really?

    I would imagine participating in illegal activities on the premises would be cause to evict in a lot of places...maybe not in some places, but it would in Texas.  At the very least I would make them want to move, because I would be on the phone to the police every day and would probably stake the place out a couple of times, during prime dealing hours.

    0Reply
  • Mark Cruse
    Investor · Fort Washington, MD · Member since 2014 · 1k+ posts · 1k+ votes
    12y

    @Edward Briley, I guess I understand your point. I wouldn't worry about it but I can see what you mean depending on the situation. However, all in all I'm a landlord not their parent.

    @Hattie Dizmond, that's just not considered a big enough deal for me. In a lot of cases you would just irritate your own tenants and may get a reputation of being a landlord people shy away from. I just say that some of you would never be able to do this business in other areas. Calling on someone for smoking weed in their own spot can lead to your own dangerous demise in some places. If you were in Bmore, you'd be on the phone with the police for your entire life (around the clock).

    I can see some in here having a non-premarital sex clause. LOL

    0Reply
  • Kendall T.
    Real Estate Investor · Fort Pierce, FL · Member since 2014 · 132 posts · 57 votes
    12y

    Pot is such a weak drug, the current hysteria about how pot should not be legalized in some states by conservatives is ridiculous, some are even against medical use ( even while doctors are prescribing Oxys to people who say they have pain) Honestly pot mellows people out, it is better to have a pothead for a tenant than a drunk who is breaking doors and punching holes in walls.  If he is paying the rent on time, why are you worried about it, are you his daddy, if he smokes pot it is his choice.  Of he gets busted someday, it is his choice and problem.  You are not his parent.  Personally I do not advise smoking pot as I think it takes off a mental edge, and makes people slower.  But everyone can make their own choices

    0Reply
  • Annette Hibbler
    Real Estate Consultant · Brighton, MI · Member since 2013 · 607 posts · 251 votes
    12y

    I agree wholeheartedly with Kenneth, file a police report, give them two weeks notice in writing (send via certified return receipt).  Keep the receipt in case you wind up in court, it's considered a legal document and will prove you gave them ample notice.  In fact, any all correspondence to them should be handled the exact same way.

    When you file a police report, obtain a copy.  Inform your good tenants that you are taking legal action against them and ask for patience while you sort the whole thing out.

    0Reply
  • Account Closed
    Dallas, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 744 votes
    12y

    Let the DEA in on it and if they are selling pot out of the home, the DEA can take the home. Drugs are like unions have no place in the USA.


    Joe Gore

    0Reply
  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    12y

    @Taylor Chiu 

     So is half of America ... smoking pot that is and probably 70% of the audience has imbided over the years.  but if its a druggie biker hangout then get rid of them if its just pot smoking just go with it.. that's were the US is going state by state...

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    1Reply
  • Jay HinrichsBusiness Member
    Real Estate Consultant · Summerlin, NV · Member since 2014 · 45k+ posts · 66k+ votes
    12y

    @Account Closed 

      Don't invite Joe to one of your parties lest he calls the DEA FBI his friend the judge and any other law enforcement dude....

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  • Account Closed
    Dallas, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 744 votes
    12y

    @Jay Hinrichs

    It looks like you support the pot heads.


    Joe Gore

    0Reply
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