Arcadia, CA · Member since 2015 · 7 posts · 5 votes
HI!!! Need HELP!!
My tenant turned my rental house located in Inland Empire, CA to a Marijuana Grow House. We found out about this few months ago after the tenants stopped paying the rent. We went through abandonment process to enter the house. We then found out the tenant tried to grow marijuana in it, so we called the police department. They came and told us they will need to issue a warrant to collect evidence and told us not to do anything. Now, it's been couple months, and we called the police department several times and still no information about the warrant. This is really frustrating because we cannot start the restoration process and we are just keep losing money if this continues to happen. So my questions are, 1) Do I still keep waiting for the warrant? 2) Is there a way to accelerate the process? 3) Should I get an attorney for this? 4) please kindly give any suggestions..
@Tony Chen - the lesson is to seek an eviction next time based on non-payment of rent. In fact, I would do that right now. You've been patient and if it's not a priority to the PD, why should their need be for you? Evict.
Why would this be treated differently than any other "abandoned property" situation - cant you just remove the abandoned property & go about your business?
Given that marijuana is now legal in Ca, I'm not sure what the cops would even do about this....sounds like the worst you could get the tenant for is operating a commercial business out of your house without a license (likely a lease violation, but you already have them out, so...)
I would say just go through the normal procedures of what you have to do with abandoned property - don't treat this any differently than if the tenant had left behind couches & trash, etc. Its certainly not worth your time & money to let the home sit vacant.
@Tony Chen - the lesson is to seek an eviction next time based on non-payment of rent. In fact, I would do that right now. You've been patient and if it's not a priority to the PD, why should their need be for you? Evict.
I would still go through the eviction process just for the right to get the default judgment and maybe one day recover costs. You can also sue is small claims or civil court for the damages and cost to restore the property from illegal activity. Due to the illegal activity, I'm sure you know a 30-day notice is not required for the eviction process to start. I would also call an atty to get the ball rolling with the PD. The IE has a low of illegal grows and the police are raiding and seizing property all the time, you want to be ahead of this. You also need to confirm that the tenants did not hack the water and electrical systems, so you do not get the penalties and bills for that, too. Stolen utilities are almost guaranteed in illegal grow houses and they stick everything on the homeowner nowadays.
If the tenants have left, take possession, clean up, and get it rented. The PD isn't going to pay your mortgage or lost rent - not without a long legal process it at all.
If it's a couple of attempted pot plants, probably low on their priority list. Especially now that pot is mostly legal here in CA. Take care of your business
Yes, I have the house possession. Just wondering if I could start working on the house when the PD told us not to move anything till the warrant. Any thoughts?
It should not take several months to get a warrant. Also evidence collection should be immediate. If a couple months have passed then it seems they are not even investigating it. If you are concerned about criminal liability then just contact the officer that told you to wait for them to get a warrant and find out what the status on that warrant is. It seems like having to wait several months for them to take follow up action is unreasonable.