Legitimate landlords can become part of the criminal element if they do not keep a careful watch on their properties. One local property owner is sharing her experience as a warning to others.
"Oh, I am so dumb, when you look back in hindsight. There were all these red flags," said Prince George's Chelsea Schmelzel, who discovered a marijuana grow-operation in the basement of a house she was renting to a man she now says she trusted far too much.
The damages to the house have cost all her family's savings and money that was supposed to pay for a handicap accessibility van for their special-needs child.
It was only by luck that they discovered the grow-op when they told the tenant they needed to show an insurance agent around. The tenant said he would not be home, but the key would be in the mailbox.
The key was not there and the tenant did not answer repeated knocks on the door. Schmelzel's husband saw an open basement window "which is totally against the agreement, to leave the house unsecured," and clambered inside.
He landed in a marijuana oasis. The basement was encased in plastic stapled to the walls, hotlights burned down on potted plants well into growth, bags of fertilizer were piled high, two industrial-sized air purifiers had been installed, the brand new Ikea kitchen cabinets in the basement were destroyed, the wiring was significantly tampered with, even the water lines had been tapped into.
"We found the tenant passed out on the couch upstairs," she said.
The tenant said he'd subletted the basement.
While pondering legal options and giving the tenant the benefit of the doubt, they gave the tenant a couple of days. It was all the time he needed to clear the house out and flee without paying the rent.
Flooring had to be ripped out, sterilized and replaced, drywall had to be replaced, mould and electrical inspections had to be done. But Schmelzel considers herself lucky the house wasn't totally destroyed.
As it is, the resale value will be harshly impaired, she said, because the grow-op's presence must forever be disclosed to potential buyers.
"I am a little disappointed in the neighbours. They complained all the time to us about barking dogs, but they didn't see fit to call us about a bomb next door," she said. "I have a hard time believing all that equipment could be moved in there, and the smell, and nobody noticed that."
She was also "disappointed in BC Hydro," over the $1,100 per month power bill.
"How do they not notice something that big, that sudden, when the neighbours surely don't have bills anywhere near that size?"
The couple now has to work extra jobs to cover the costs of the repairs, the new insurance rate and the prolonged vacancy.
They warn other landowners to be rigid about tenancy rules and property vigilance with any rental residences.
WATCHING OUT FOR YOUR RENTAL PROPERTY
Property owners discovering marijuana grow-ops have 24 hours to report that to the RCMP and the City of Prince George, or be left on the hook for the full costs of fees and inspections.
"You still might have some fees, but it definitely helps your costs. We want to encourage landlords who are being proactive, so if you do discover a grow-op we can give you some breaks along the way," said Guy Gusdal, manager of bylaw services. "But if the police find it first, all the costs can be applied to you."
Gusdal stressed that "the onus is on the landlord" to keep tabs on rental properties and grow-ops are "to a large extent preventable."
MJ Jacobson of Pace Realty and Property Management said the landlord or property manager must be dogged about who they accept as tenants and watching over the property thereafter.
"We do regular inspections and tell the renters up front we will do that. You have to be a hard-ass with the tenants and with the owners," Jacobson said.
"We know it takes roughly three months to set up your first marijuana crop and we inspect much more often than that. You should inspect all the time. You are allowed once per 30 days anyway, but more times if you have cause to believe there is a problem and that can be the neighours telling you about marijuana smells, or prostitutes going in and out, or high levels of traffic. We have one place that gets a lot of neighbour complaints and we are in there every day."
Jacobson recommended being swift and proactive with the police. Even if you think you can handle a situation as it develops, let the police know about it the minute you become aware of it.
She said the best way to avoid any problem tenants was "to be a pitbull" about demanding and checking character references, financial background checks and previous landlords and neighbours. She stressed it is not low income people needing screening, but those who cannot account for their income.
"We did have senior members of the Game Tight Soldiers [street gang] end up as renters and they passed all the reference and credit checks. It was only through fluke that we found out who they were, so you have to really be diligent about it or for sure they are going to slip by and end up taking over your house," she said.
According to the Residential Tenancy Branch's provincial website, tenants must be allowed a full month for eviction, however, "under extraordinary circumstances... there is justification to end the tenancy immediately," with the help of a dispute resolution officer.
WATCH OUT FOR TENANTS THAT EXHIBIT THESE TENDANCIES
- A desire to pay cash
- Areas of the house blocked/locked during your inspections
- Tampering with ducts or electrical systems (look especially at panels and metres)
- Suspicious traffic in and out (talk to the neighbours about in-house activities)
- Foggy windows, tin foil or garbage bags on the windows
- Equipment going in and out (pots, tubes, bags of soil, tarps, hot lights, etc.)
- Interior locks of any kind (landlords are not to be locked out of any area of the home)
- Those who balk at credit checks
