Tenants and Heroin Use. What is enough to get booted?

Tenants and Heroin Use. What is enough to get booted?

Real Estate Broker · Jacksonville, OR · Member since 2009 · 199 posts · 155 votes

First of all, Merry Christmas!  I hope your holiday is full of love and laughter.   I need your help, I am a bit out of my element.  I have  rental properties, but this problem is foreign to me.  It has me very worried.  

My dad has two homes on one lot, and he has moved into one of the houses for the winter.  It was not Santa that woke him at 4am this morning, it was the police and ambulance.

He rents to a single male, in his late 20's.  Apparantly the paramedics were called because a young lady had overdosed on heroin.  With all the commotion, my dad went to see what was going on.   The young lady was initially non responsive, but after the administered CPR, she came back to life.  Thank goodness, and the ambulance rushed her to the hospital.  

The police officer gave my dad his card and wrote "heroin overdose" on the card with reference to a case number.  My dad asked if his tenant was to be arrested after the cop indicated locating significant drug perophinelia inside the home.  No, they didn't find any remaining herion.  My dad was so shocked, and recently awoke, that he is a little hazey with the details.  

I believe because he was conducting illegal activity, my dad is able to offer him 72 hours to vacate.  We had scheduled a walk through for tomorrow.  My thought is that we should post 72 hour notice to vacate and copy the front and back of the police officers card referencing "heroin overdose" and that is it.  

I absolutely want this guy out of my dads home, but want to handle properly.  His lease does indicate no illegal activity, but because he didn't get arrested, is it enough that he nearly let a young lady die at the home, and/or the existence of drug perophinelia within the home, is that sufficient?  Should I enlist the assistance of the police to witness the 72 hour notice being posted.  I do not want my dad dealing with these people, I want him to post notice and go stay at his other home until the 72 hours expires.  He had some  inclination that his tenant was a bit "off,"so requested a walk though a few weeks ago, which will take place tomorrow.   Finding hardcore drugs to be the problem is mind boggling, and  totally unexpected.  What is the process that I need to follow to get this guy out of my dads house, and out of his life?  Does anyone have a 72 hour notice to vacate for the state of Oregon?  what should we do? 

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Greg H.Pro Member
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Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
10y

I think you might have some difficulty here if the tenant decides to fight the eviction. If the police could not prove illegal activity was conducted at the property, how are you ?  He could tell the judge he did heroin all night long right down the street. Is that a lease violation? 

I would meet with a lawyer before taking any action. Your best action might be to  offer the tenant $$$ to leave as unpleasant as that may be

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  • Investor · Tromsø, Norway (Europe) · Member since 2015 · 431 posts · 194 votes
    10y

    @Kim Knox Happy holidays! 

    That sounds challanging. 

    Check what is in the lease and which state laws may apply to the situation. An eviction is costly and you definitely want the law on your side if the tenant challanges your decision to evict.

  • Architect · Papillion, NE · Member since 2015 · 1k+ posts · 840 votes
    10y

    I would do the walk thru as planned. Bring another person to witness and take picsor video of anything found of wrong doing.  I wouldn't make any comments about the overdose issue until you talk to the police officer and a lawyer on Monday. Dont tip your hand if you are going the legal route.  Collect your evidence first. Once the tenant knows  then it becomes difficult. 

  • Investor · Juneau, AK · Member since 2015 · 980 posts · 741 votes
    10y

    I would go with your states notice for illegal activity/lease violation (sounds like 72 hours is your finding there). 

    I would expect they would not want more attention as they are now on the police radar.

    If they are not gone in 72 hours, I would file the eviction or hire someone with experience in the area...and as a bad as it is, you are not alone....

    This is maybe one of the biggest epidemics facing the U.S. right now. You can read about it in the book, Dream Land,The True Tale of America's Opiate Epidemic.. By Sam Quinones. Much is old news to many landlords on the front lines of the issues for some years.. But it covers how the oxy boom across the U.S. and aggressive marketing of pain killers left a ripe area of addiction across the country for a network of dealers, largely from villages in Xalisco, Nayarit in Mexico.

  • Greg H.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    10y

    I think you might have some difficulty here if the tenant decides to fight the eviction. If the police could not prove illegal activity was conducted at the property, how are you ?  He could tell the judge he did heroin all night long right down the street. Is that a lease violation? 

    I would meet with a lawyer before taking any action. Your best action might be to  offer the tenant $$$ to leave as unpleasant as that may be

  • Buy & Hold Owner · Redlands, CA · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    In my lease, I have incarceration more than 72 hrs is a default breach of the contact and that allows a 3-day quit notice to be posted.

  • Investor · Naperville, IL · Member since 2010 · 105 posts · 52 votes
    10y

    @Kim Knox--Am I understanding you right that this tenant already had a walk-through to vacate scheduled before this happened?  If so, I would proceed as normal and I agree with @Jim Adrian's advice: take a witness and take plenty of pictures.

    I also make a habit of NOT agreeing to a final list of damages at the walkthrough.  Check the lease you have in place.  Ours returns the security in 30 days--which gives us time to clean up and find damage that's not as obvious on the initial walk-through.  In this case, you may really need that and you don't want to verbally obligate yourself to anything pre-maturely.  I'm not sure what the laws in your state are, but always better to be safe than sorry.

    We also include a page/addendum that is pretty clear on illegal activity in our leases.  You might want to do this one (make sure a local lawyer reviews to be sure it's applicable in your locale) going forward.

  • Greg H.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Jeff B.:

    In my lease, I have incarceration more than 72 hrs is a default breach of the contact and that allows a 3-day quit notice to be posted.

     Can you source any precedent for enforcement of this clause ?  I can't imagine a judge would uphold this with a tenant that is current with rent

  • Buy & Hold Owner · Redlands, CA · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    It's an agreed to and initialed clause, just like abandonment - - tenant no longer in residence.

  • Greg H.Pro Member
    Moderator
    Broker/Flipper · Austin, TX · Member since 2013 · 4k+ posts · 4k+ votes
    10y
    Originally posted by @Jeff B.:

    It's an agreed to and initialed clause, just like abandonment - - tenant no longer in residence.

     That does not meet the standard for abandonment is Texas so I can't imagine it would in California. You can put anything in your lease you want and even if it is agreed to it does not make it enforceable .  

  • Buy & Hold Owner · Redlands, CA · Member since 2015 · 5k+ posts · 2k+ votes
    10y

    Agreed

  • Investor · Portland, OR · Member since 2015 · 119 posts · 78 votes
    10y
    If you need a real estate attorney recommend in Oregon please PM me. I have a great guy.
  • Investor · Canton, GA · Member since 2014 · 727 posts · 500 votes
    10y
    When does the lease run out?
  • Rental Property Investor · Beaumont, TX · Member since 2015 · 161 posts · 77 votes
    10y
    Kim Knox I agree with Greg H. . Cash for keys might be the easiest option. If tenant does not seem interested, then consult a qualified attorney.
  • Hales Corners, WI · Member since 2013 · 229 posts · 80 votes
    10y

    Kim, I am so sorry you are dealing with this, and I will pray for you and for this situation you are dealing with.  I hope there is a way to get rid of the tenant.  Best of luck!  

  • Real Estate Broker · Jacksonville, OR · Member since 2009 · 199 posts · 155 votes
    10y

    Hi All!  I wanted to let you know the prescheduled walk-through (just a routine check to insure the home was being cared for) went as scheduled.  We took a video.  

    You helped me to understand that although their was drug related activity, that being the cause for a 72 hour notice may be subject to criticism because he was not cited nor was our tenant the one that had overdosed.  

    We decided to just give him 60 day notice to vacate, to minimize our legal risk of being considered unfair.  He will be gone March 1st.  We didn't mention anything about the recent police visit.  My dad did go to the police station to see if they planned on taking any action against the tenant.  They do not have any plans to further investigate.  With the fact that the police have no concerns about his herion use, this further prompted our willingness to give him 60 day notice (in Oregon, 60 days are required if a tenant has occupied for over a year).

    Thanks for all of your advice.  

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