Can you evict a tenant if you suspect they are growing marijuana?
Spiritually speaking, does jesus frown on growing marijuana?
September 29, 2010
Police Officer steals Marijuana The 911 Call
September 29, 2010
asked:
We have tenants that have foil on the windows in their suite and the house stinks like pot. We know that if we do a 24 hour inspection they will get rid of the plants and we won’t be able to catch them in the act. Can you call the police even if you do not have proof? Can you evict them on suspicion?
PS, they have been in the suite for 15 days.
4 Comments
I would suggest calling your local police department and inquiring on what they can do.If they bust them then obviously you can evict.Another thing is to house check regularely because I’ve seen a dozen stories of people destroying the house to make room for growing.Just FYI.
You can call your police station and ask. These days some states allow people to use marajuana medically, of course those people would have to show proof of that, and sometimes even if they do show proof they “may” still have to go to jail. Are you sure there are plants or is there just smell? Having foil on one’s windows does not cast suspicion on anyone, it’s for keeping the heat out. Is there a reason you need to go in the apartment, for instance to check a leaking pipe or flooded toilet?
Well, I think that you can still contact the police even without immediate proof because you have smelled it there before and have “reasonable belief” that they are growing marijuana. I’d call the police and discuss it with them. It would probably help if some of those tenants’ neighbors could corroborate your story. If the police won’t come out on suspicion, go and check on the apartment every once in a while. When you smell pot, THEN call the police and have them come out and search the apartment.
If the police won’t handle it, you could always knock on the tenant’s door and ask to be let in. Say that you just want to check on something for repairs that are going to be made or whatnot.
You can’t evict them based on suspicion alone. However, I do know that the Texas Apartment Association lease states that a tenant can be evicted if drugs and/or paraphernelia are found in the unit. So if the police search the apartment and find it, then you can evict them.
As a side note – just because there’s foil on the windows doesn’t mean they’re growing pot. I lived in an (admittedly ghetto) apartment complex for six months where many of the residents kept foil on their windows in order to keep the sun from constantly shining in the window and heating up the apartment.
If you evict them “on suspicion” and you are unable to prove the suspicions, you could be sued for illegal eviction