At Ask Me Help Desk you can ask questions in any topic and have them
answered for free by our experts. To ask questions or participate in
answering them you must register for a free account. By registering you
will be able to:
Get free answers from experts in any of our 300+
topics.
We rent a one bedroom downstairs flat to a young couple. My family and I live upstairs. The tenants signed a one year lease and moved in on July 1. The lease specified no smoking in the apartment. Beginning a few weeks after they moved in, we have smelled almost daily the odor of marijuana coming from their apartment. I smelled it again tonight and went downstairs and as I reached their door the tenants were came out with friends and the pot odor nearly knocked me over.
What are my rights as a landlord since I can't prove they are using illegal drugs? I don't want drug users in my place especially with our kids upstairs. I haven't said anything to them yet because I want to know my rights and what I can and can't do. I'd like them out.
I'll bet you have a clause in your lease that says the premises will be used for legal activities only, so you can evict them on those grounds. Tell the judge that you smell pot. They'll say they don't smoke. In order for you to prevail, the judge has to believe you just a hair more than he believes them. Bring all your witnesses to court. You should win.
excon
PS> Don't call the cops. It's only pot, for crying out loud.
I would contact my local police department for advice, possibly even meet them at the apartment. Let them knock on the door and document the smell of pot in their report. Proceed with an accelerated eviction due to illegal drug use. If you let this slide as a harmless crime you may soon find an increase of property crimes in and about your neighborhood.
Yes, call the cops every time you smell it...and give them a warning in writing that they are violating the terms of the lease. If they violate again, give them an eviction notice.
Arguments about pot aside, a contract is a contract.
Advise the tenants you smell the smoke and know what it is...they can stop smoking in your apt and leave at the end of the month; or, if you smell it again, you will call the police, document what they are doing and start eviction.
For future reference, getting an actual signature on such mail is problematic.
You are better served to use USPS delivery confirmation service whereby you can track placement of the mail in the box or delivery receipticle rather than depend on an actual signature.
Also, sending a copy REGULAR MAIL with note on the mailing piece that a "duplicate is being sent regular mail" assist you in documenting receipt.
A few years ago I got a call from a Phoenix Police Officer, reporting a third heroin overdose in a condo that I rent out. He faxed to me all of the necessary paperwork to do an almost immediate eviction because of criminal activities on the premises. Check with your local PD, and see if such remedies are avalable in your area.
Let's not get carried away here. This is marijuana we're talking about. Marijuana doesn't kill, and the people who smoke it don't steal to get it. Pot heads work hard and pay their bills. Their neighborhoods don't deteriorate because of it.
In addition, Dr. D, Arizona is one of those states where medical marijuana is legal with a prescription. The Cardinal could live in one of those states, and his tenant could be smoking it legally.
The Cardinal, clearly, can set the rules for his establishment, and it looks to me like his problem solving approach is reasonable. If his tenants have a prescription, they'll have an opportunity to discuss it, instead of being thrown on the ground, at gunpoint, with a foot on their neck, and hauled off to the slam.
Linear Mode
