Drugs found in duplex. What to do?
Investor · Houston, TX · Member since 2014 · 25 posts · 8 votes
I think you're looking for trouble. It sounds like he did not confirm permission for you to enter and if he finds out you posted pictures of his condom and baby powder on the internet he may be the new owner.
If there is no change in his behavior i'd forget it. He knows you were in the apartment. I doubt the police would do anything based on your observation and could be a problem for you if you produce those pictures.
This is one of the reasons why we love to own property here, as property owners we have the right to protect our property.
As long as tenants abide by the lease (their contractual obligation) then there are no issues, but if they break their contract, we as owners have our rights protected.
Have the police test it (the area if tenants removed it by now)
file a report
ask about witness protection (who knows what dealers are capable of!)
move for an ACCELERATED EVICTION
(i'm currently considering pursuing an accelerated eviction due to 'marijuana smell' at the entrance of my duplex residence!)
If I went into the witness protection program during my first encounter with a tenant & drugs, my career would have lasted less than a week. You have to accept some risk with this job, especially in the ghetto. You just have to play it smart.
I'm curious, what was the eviction reason for the marijuana smell tenant? That alone would never fly with any judge I've encountered.
This is one of the reasons why we love to own property here, as property owners we have the right to protect our property.
As long as tenants abide by the lease (their contractual obligation) then there are no issues, but if they break their contract, we as owners have our rights protected.
Actually if a tenant abides by their contractual obligation they can still come home several times a month to have their idiot landlord in their home. If I couldn't manage my business without this Nazi power I would get out of the business.
Just came into a duplex to fix a leak due to a moldy exhaust pipe for the AC. I did let the tenant know; and found a table with cocaine spread out.
I'm in Texas. What are my options; or what CAN I do? I try my best to keep my properties family friendly and this is my first encounter with this.
Again, I didn't read the pages of replies, just noticed the thread.
Upon discovery of suspected illegal drugs, DO NOT TOUCH IT!
Last bag I found I picked up, I called the cops. He showed up and I handed him the bag. Told him who I was and what the deal was. First thing he said was, I know who you are and I trust you're telling me the truth, but never touch evidence of drugs. Another officer couldn't tell if I were more involved or not with my finger prints on the evidence.
Report it immediately! Lock the place up, wait outside to let them in.
In most states, the suspicion of drug activity is grounds for special and immediate eviction and termination of a lease. This should be at the advice of your attorney. Your liability is limited in such matters where you acted reasonably and lawfully. Yes, you can throw granny out if you find illegal amounts of Bobby's Magic Mind Mojo.
If your tenant is there, you have a moral decision to make, over look it as their own little stash or if it appears to be dealing, reporting it. If I were to report the matter, I wouldn't say anything to the tenants. That's just telling them to get rid of it before the cops arrive. Flush!
Texas isn't Colorado, so I would be following the legal requirements to report criminal activities on my property, it will keep you safer from a liability stand point than allowing it or ignoring it. If I had a tenant pounding crack in my place I'd make sure they went to jail, that can be a clean up issue as an environmental hazard.
As some states relax drug possession laws, social aspects are changing, in some places you may have to go with the flow if the police aren't interested. So, it's best to address these issues with your attorney before things happen (and they most likely will) and cover such matters in the lease agreement. Your local police Department may have information concerning landlord rights and practices in such matters as well. Good luck :)
Hopefully they lock this guy up and throw away the key!
@Account Closed
That is a very weird comment?!
I am not sure what type of property owners you hang around with, but in our investment funds we have properties that we haven't seen for years and that's how we like it.
I do not think I have ever met a property owner who wants to hang around, let alone go inside their occupied properties unless there was an issue.
I give weeks of notice for any routine maintenance. 7 weeks for the last boiler maintenance, with a reminder the week before. People here take their privacy seriously.
That Texas law is incredible. Would never, ever fly here. Even if the Legislature ever passed such a law, any landlord actually using it would have really serious vacancy problems.
I'm actually having trouble understanding how a lease clause like that flies. Entering for periodic inspections without having to give a reason nor give notice is about as far from "quiet enjoyment" as you can get.
I give weeks of notice for any routine maintenance. 7 weeks for the last boiler maintenance, with a reminder the week before. People here take their privacy seriously.
That Texas law is incredible. Would never, ever fly here. Even if the Legislature ever passed such a law, any landlord actually using it would have really serious vacancy problems.
I'm actually having trouble understanding how a lease clause like that flies. Entering for periodic inspections without having to give a reason nor give notice is about as far from "quiet enjoyment" as you can get.
Not to mention exclusive possession issues.
I guess it is a cultural thing. Texas HOAs are completely bizarre by my standards as well. I have a tough time imagining people here passively accepting the degree of control by others that seems to be the norm in Texas.
Call your attorney or just ask the police - they do this stuff all the time. It will become a little trickier in some states that have now legalized marijuana - putting that into the category of alcohol. Landlords may not want a pot smoker, but it's going to be tough to discriminate in the not too distant future.
Good luck.
Have the police test it (the area if tenants removed it by now)
file a report
ask about witness protection (who knows what dealers are capable of!)
move for an ACCELERATED EVICTION
(i'm currently considering pursuing an accelerated eviction due to 'marijuana smell' at the entrance of my duplex residence!)
If I went into the witness protection program during my first encounter with a tenant & drugs, my career would have lasted less than a week. You have to accept some risk with this job, especially in the ghetto. You just have to play it smart.
I'm curious, what was the eviction reason for the marijuana smell tenant? That alone would never fly with any judge I've encountered.
Didnt mention program nor mention actually evicting based on the marijuana smell alone, nor as investment professionals are we ethically inclined to label special areas as 'ghetto', so discussion ends there.
@Account Closed
That is a very weird comment?!
I am not sure what type of property owners you hang around with, but in our investment funds we have properties that we haven't seen for years and that's how we like it.
I do not think I have ever met a property owner who wants to hang around, let alone go inside their occupied properties unless there was an issue.
What part of my factual comment did you find wierd?
I'm shocked at the amount of people wanting to evict a good paying tenant over the sight of drugs. We all might as well get rid of 50% of our tenants if this is a criteria.
@Account Closed
It is weird to me that your mind would go to a scenario that a landlord would want to hang around their occupied unit just because they have the legal authority to do so.
Have you ever encountered such a thing? Because I have not and I know dozens and dozens of landlords here in Houston and they have never talked about doing such things.
Ill just say - I read all the comments. I am not an attorney.
My question is - if he is a good paying tenant, keeps your property clean, acts respectful toward you, and is communicative...why would you get involved with is personal life? Don't get me wrong, I completely understand your point, but...there are no emotions rolled up in dollar bills. As you stated, I (personally) think your best course of action, if you really feel you need to handle it differently, is to talk to him personally. Maybe even ask him whats going on? He doesn't seem to be bothering anyone, the neighbors aren't complaining about him, and until this, you had no problems with him. Maybe you could recommend him a treatment facility or something...I suppose my whole point is, be careful bringing personal matters into a business transaction. I wish you nothing but the best of luck for the final outcome.
Those "poor life choices" referred to by an earlier poster? Think they don't affect the landlord as the tenant does the ol' crash-n-burn?
My first tenant paid her rent IN FULL and ON TIME faithfully. She also broke virtually every single term of the rental agreement, the granddaughter's boyfriends were dealing drugs out the bedroom windows, there was an illegal (felon) subtenant, several cats and a pit bull.
@$2k in damages, lost rent, and lawyers fees even though she paid her rent and did NOT force me to go through an eviction. She was smart enough not to want that on her record, so I got off lucky.
I would be more interested in understanding your state law and options than calling an attorney or calling the police. The attorney will likely give you advice you can find yourself or already know at a cost and the police will be like pulling teeth to help you. As mentioned above, some states have special clauses for drugs and I think taking a photo of what you see as an issue is smart and not an issue at all. I disagree w/ the others about drugs not being a good deal. If you do them fine, if I know about it, you got to go for a number of reasons. I know a lot of people said not to deal w/ the tenant, but I prefer face to face conversations I any issues I have, letting the tenant do most of the speaking, to ensure I am not missing anything before I take action.
Before you get the police involved think about whether you want to potentially ruin someone's life over doing a recreational drug in the privacy of his own home. It's one thing to tell the guy he has to move, it's quite another to involve law enforcement. He's not a dealer.
IMO this is a personal risk tolerance issue. If you perceive the risk of knowing about this behavior and doing nothing about it as low, then do nothing. If you perceive the risk as high, do something about it. I would personally take the opportunity to look at his rental app and BG and credit checks. Did you miss something? Does he have any convictions? Is his credit good or bad. If it's bad, maybe you dropped the ball. Take it as a lesson, get him out, and find a better tenant. If he has good credit, I would give him a pass and monitor the situation closely. Remember, you are not the police. It is not your job to report this. You are a landlord. It is your job to cover yourself from liability to the level you are comfortable with. (If that means reporting it, then so be it.)
If you want your tenant out, take the cash for keys mentality. Keyword: mentality (not approach, necessarily). We all know it HURTS to pay someone to move out when we are in the right, but this approach can often be MUCH cheaper than the alternative. You have to adopt this mentality when dealing with these types of situations and leave ego at the door. This is a business.
Don't go instantly to the nuclear option by calling the cops or threatening eviction. The best landlords are able to talk people into doing what they want. Through proper application of reasoning and a subtle carrot and stick approach, you can get reasonable tenants to do just about anything so long as you are being fair on your end. Don't make the painful mistake of doing things strictly on principal or some sort of rigid dogma.
Have a talk with him. Tell him you saw the substance. You don't want to go to the cops or evict him, but you're not comfortable with that on your property. Ask him to move. Give him 30 or even 60 days. Tell him if he moves out, he'll get his entire security deposit back less cleaning fees so long as he leaves the unit in reasonable condition. Make good on that promise. If he refuses tell him that you will not renew his lease. You will ask him to move anyway when his lease is up. But then you will deduct everything that is reasonable to deduct from the deposit when he does move out. And if he's the least bit late on his rent, you will promptly file for eviction. You will do regular maintenance checks. You will contact the authorities if you see that happen again. He will be under the microscope.
Do this and 9 times out of 10 you'll get him to move out because you're going to be a pain for him in the place that he lives. Yet you'll be doing it all reasonably and within your rights as a landlord. And if you've explained yourself clearly enough, he'll know you're doing it because it's just business--you're not doing it out of spite. He'll move out.
@Account Closed I just wanted to mention, since you asked about states allowing landlords to enter the premises without giving notice, Colorado also appears to allow that, based on my research. Colorado has no law regarding landlords having to give notice prior to entering the premises; however, I imagine most, if not all, landlords still do provide reasonable notice or gain permission from the tenant to enter.
As for the original post regarding the apparent drugs/paraphernalia, I am rather shocked at the number of landlords here saying to just ignore it. I can now see why we have such slums in some areas; you figure as long as you get your rent you don't care what happens to your property. If you think people who do drugs don't bring around other people who do even worse drugs (not to mention other crimes) and who clearly won't give a s*** about taking care of your property or what happens to your property if it gets raided by the cops, you are naive at best. Just because they may seem like an occasional/recreational user now, that doesn't mean they won't become a dealer or get into harder drugs or die in your unit with a needle in their arm in the future.
Just because they may seem like an occasional/recreational user now, that doesn't mean they won't become a dealer or get into harder drugs or die in your unit with a needle in their arm in the future.
Was "Reefer Madness" on TV last nite? People need to use common sense in their business. There is NO proof of any drug use here. There has been no behavior problem either. Any overt action by the landlord increases his liability. Advice to not act have also be followed by advice to be alert to the possible situation.
As the facts have been stated it is more probable to have a bad result for the landlord than the tenant.
Just because they may seem like an occasional/recreational user now, that doesn't mean they won't become a dealer or get into harder drugs or die in your unit with a needle in their arm in the future.
Was "Reefer Madness" on TV last nite? People need to use common sense in their business. There is NO proof of any drug use here. There has been no behavior problem either. Any overt action by the landlord increases his liability. Advice to not act have also be followed by advice to be alert to the possible situation.
As the facts have been stated it is more probable to have a bad result for the landlord than the tenant.
I never said there was proof. But white powder, a mirror, rolled up dollar bills, and butane gas is plenty enough to qualify as "probable cause" to investigate further. Or do you propose OP waits until the guy burns down the building while cooking meth? Or worse, doesn't burn down the building and just leaves it with meth contamination, costing OP many thousands of dollars to remediate? Or how about having a gang shoot up his building/tenant for dealing drugs in their turf, or the tenant ODs on something in the unit and no one notices until they smell the decomp (sounds like he may be living there alone now, since the wife left and probably took the daughter with her).
Sure, those are rather extreme possibilities (though they do happen). What's more likely, to be honest, is this tenant continues to have other druggies hanging around, and he doesn't take care of the property (trash/chairs left in the yard, etc.), and any other decent tenants the OP has will move out because they don't want to be around that type of behavior or activity. OP will have higher turnover, and likely have to settle for lesser quality tenants because they're the only ones willing to live around that. That right there is reason enough to nip this cancer in the bud and get rid of these types of undesirables.
I suggest not over reacting when it could greatly increase your liability. That is just good business sense.
If any of the behaviors you are predicting are imminent actually do happen then deal with them.
@Kimberly T. - I kind of (have to) agree with @Account Closed here.
Also, assuming the tennant is "using/selling meth", "shoot up his building dealing drugs", or "ODs on something in the unit and no one notices until they smell the decomp" is unfair.
It would be like you renting a place...your landlord walks in and sees your 6 mo old baby strapped to a carrier while you are outside getting the carseat ready. Landlord doesn't see you but sees the baby, ALONE, inside without your supervision. You see your landlord and tell him you were just around the corner, for 5 minutes, getting the car ready. Unfortunately, he decides you're lying to him, calls CPS, police, etc, and accuses you of child abuse. Keep in mind, you've never made a late payment, had trouble at your place, had any complaints, or created damage of any kind.
Not the best analogy, but hopefully you get the idea...
Again, I'm not defending said tennant. I just believe he should have a chance to explain himself before letting any emotions come into a business decision. Anyhow, Im just interested in thinking creatively in any situation. There's always a great solution to any dilemma.
I also want to know how you were sure it was cocaine. Was there other paraphernalia around? Have you had trouble with these tenants before? Did you take a picture?
He "tested" it... just to make sure. Then he took half of it, and left them a note saying their rent was paid up for the next three months. Sorry - I couldn't help myself when I started reading this thread... some of these true-life encounters are more interesting than a novel!