Catching Tenants Breaking Bad

[Shane Pearlman]

Hey PBers.

I'm a little scarred from tenants using my nice SFRs to build grow houses. It has only happened once, and through amazing luck, they turned out to be the nicest drug dealers ever and helped pay to remediate the special venting they had constructed through my roof without permission. Thankfully it was contained to the garage so the interior of the home itself was not destroyed (although we did have to gut the drywall from the garage). You can try to screen for that stuff, but the tenants worked for the CDC and had excellent history and financials. It was an A- neighborhood. Go figure!

I have a couple in a duplex and my spidey sense is tingling. I need some way in which to go into the property without giving them a day or two proper notice to clean out any operations. Any suggestions on how to check in the basement (no windows) of a rental without violating California landlord-tenant law?