Addressing Marijuana Smell Complaints

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Addressing Marijuana Smell Complaints

Aubrey Page
Investor · Cincinnati, OH · Member since 2016 · 18 posts · 13 votes

We have a new-to-us class c quadplex in Avondale in Cincinnati. Tenant A moved in 1 Feb. Tenant B moved in 5 Mar. Tenant C moved in 7 Apr.  Tenant C reported on Apr 10 that she smelled marijuana so strongly when she woke up that she had to open up her windows to air it out.  We talk about drug use on the premises during lease/property rules signing.  This is obviously not allowed. 

Step 1:  I posted a "reminder" letter that said "We have spent a lot of time moving each of you in and we want to be able to maintain our contract. However, we will proceed with eviction proceedings with anyone smoking or using drugs on the property."

Tenant C text me today and said that it isn't fair to her or her son to have to deal with this. I absolutely agree which is why I had asked her on the 10th to keep reporting times/dates she smelled weed usage at the apartment so I could gather a timeline.  She hasn't done that even though she says it has gotten worse.

Tenant C said that she knows that Tenant A/B knows that she was the one reporting (even though I said it was me in the letter).  Tenant C has expressed fear at the thought of Tenant A/B taking "recourse" on her.  I have no reason to believe that is likely, but regardless...people cannot smoke weed inside of our building.

I am hoping someone with more experience on here has an idea.  Any option I can think of makes Tenant C the snitch.  I suspect it is Tenant A, but have no proof other than Tenant B said she was not there on April 10th.

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Nicole A.Pro Member
Rental Property Investor · Baltimore County Maryland and Tampa Florida · Member since 2013 · 2k+ posts · 2k+ votes
9y

Marijuana or not, it's always tough to control people smoking inside. You really can't control people, and your upset tenant seems to think that you can control people. You could confront your smoking tenant directly, but they'll likely deny it. You may or may not smell smoke inside the unit yourself. You might not see any evidence. It's a tough situation to "police." So I think that by you wanting to please the upset tenant so much, she is going to be come more of a nuisance to you than the smoker! I think you might need to put a bit more distance between yourself and your promises/eagerness to please your tenants.

Sorry that this isn't really giving you a concrete solution, but these are the kind of issues you're going to always deal with especially in multiunits and C-class properties. You're not the police or anyone's life coach. You're simply the landlord/property manager. You'll provide a safe, clean property, but you simply can not control people's every action. And you can't play detective either. 

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  • Susan Stacy
    Member since 2020 · 1 post · 0 votes
    6y

    I am a landlord and a mother. My daughter has quietly lived in a duplex for over 2 years but new neighbors who smoked weed moved in next door. These complaining tenants are not exaggerating and it is a horrid smell like a burning dead skunk. Their 3 kids have to endure it. I went over shortly after the neighbors moved in and the smoke comes through the vents making their side smell as if they are smoking weed too. My daughters husband is a store manager and imagine what people must think. They will be moving out in 2 months when the lease is up. So the landlord will lose good tenants. I can tell you no smoking weed/or cigarettes allowed in my 2 rentals and if so they can hit the road.

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  • Joe Sant
    Member since 2021 · 1 post · 0 votes
    5y

    This is a huge problem here in CA. But as a landlord, you must take care of these issues, if one tenant is making it difficult for many tenants to live in their apartments you have to deal with it. If your solution as a landlord is to just tell tenant A they can be released from their lease because you are tired of them complaining, that means you are probably a terrible landlord or you smoke weed your self. When we came across it in our apartments it is not difficult after an inspection to tell who was smoking marijuana, the odor soaks into the walls giving a distinct smell even after cleaning. This odor saturates the apartment more the longer they stay there and smoke. So to your question yes it is worth at least an inspection and more than likely you would able to tell who it is. The tenant will deny it but if you smell it then you'd have no choice to either give them a warning or evict them.

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  • Gary David
    Rental Property Investor · Greater Cincinnati Ohio Area · Member since 2020 · 33 posts · 18 votes
    5y

    Avondale is an area where it is going to be hard to stop that. Cant you tell them to call the police when they smell it?

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  • Jason Shackleton
    Investor · Ontario · Member since 2015 · 486 posts · 250 votes
    5y

    Hey @Aubrey Page I have also had to deal with this issue myself. I had a duplex where the lower tenant said the upper tenants weed smoking was giving them headaches.

    I mentioned this issue to the upper tenant multiple times. They denied it saying they only smoked outside lol. I did my part with trying to remedy the situation verbally multiple times etc. This can be something that is seen as effecting the tenants enjoyment because it is. You might be able to take legal action but it is tough, where I live anyways. 

    I then did my best to show I was really fixing the situation. These were great tenants I did not want to lose. I bought vent guards that did have an effect at blocking a portion of the smells coming through but the problem persisted. I bought a product called 420 clear that does really get rid of the weed smell. Again really making an effort.

    The result was the lower great tenant's moved out and the upper tenant continues to smoke his weed "outside". Very annoying. Opening up your property is always going to lead to annoying circumstances.

    The good news is that I was able to find a new tenant for a higher rental amount that doesn't seem to care and the price of the property has doubled in value over time.

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  • Tyler Fontaine
    Investor · Cranston, RI · Member since 2019 · 9 posts · 8 votes
    5y

    I have no doubt that you would love to have this be as "passive" as possible... It seems like that is not the case currently by having to deal with Tenant C. 

    Your concerns and frustrations are completely understandable; however to some of the others points, what is it worth? If the other tenants are clean, pay on time, and the only negative is they smoke weed then you have to weigh out what issue is worth all of your time. 

    It could be worth considering how you're training your tenants. By entertaining Tenant C in such a way on this issue you are creating an environment where they think you can control and fix any issue that comes up with other people. That is wildly unrealistic. I'm unsure of your neighborhood but if the neighbor smoked like a chimney and it smelled up your property, would Tenant C have an expectation for you to do something about it?

    I recommend doing what you can and remind the tenants, do the unit inspections, etc, but also try to remove yourself from the situation. Tenant C has to realize that you're a landlord with other priorities. Even though you want the property to have a copasetic environment, you are not God and cannot just change how people behave on a whim. 

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