Pot growers in rental: Opinion? (yes I am in Colorado)

[Bill Coleman]

The newest trend sweeping the rental market (from my perspective) in Colorado is that many tenants want the right to grow pot in the unit. I can see downsides and upsides.

Downs: messy, elevated risk of break-ins and illegal activities, bad for neighborhood, possible need for electical/HVAC upgrades (paid by tenant)

Ups: tenant will stay for a while and probably be on best behavior, higher security deposit, won't have trouble making rent payment, wont easily be able to move

Has anyone had any experience renting to LEGITIMATE small scale legal growers (not boys who think they know what they are doing)? By small scale, I mean fewer than say 100 plants. 

Has anyone rented to growers and if so, what kinds of clauses did you put in the lease to protect yourself, if any? Did you have any issues with damage to the unit?

Help is appreciated as I have now had 3 prospective tenants asking for this right and I am on the fence about renting to them.

[Danae Meurer]

A couple of years ago, prior to Amendment 64, we rented one of our houses to two professionals who had their medical cards.  At the time, the rental market was tough and we hadn't had much interest in the property. We also weren't sure of the implications as landlords denying someone with a medical condition.  The rest of their application looked great.  We decided to have a very open conversation with them.  Yes, they were planning on growing, no they were not growing large numbers of plants.  We added an addendum to our lease stating they were not allowed to make any changes to the electrical system and that they would be responsible for any repairs relating to the system if it were overloaded.  Also, just because we were allowing the plants did not mean we were okay with them smoking in the house.  

These guys ended up being some of our best tenants.  The only issues we ran into were when we were trying to show the property to the next set of tenants.  The house smelled quite strongly of pot and we got a few raised eyebrows.  By the time they moved out and it was professionally cleaned, you couldn't even tell they had been growing in the house.  We did have one small area of drywall along the floor that we replaced at the end of their lease.  It had some water staining, so I am sure there was a spill at one time or another.  Since this is Colorado, we have the benefit of it being so dry.  Anywhere else I am sure that could have turned into a mold problem, but we didn't have that issue.

Some thoughts. 

- We didn't think about charging an extra deposit.  I would do that with anyone else even though we didn't need it with the other guys.  

- I would make them show proof of renter's insurance with a good liability provision.

- Do I think telling them no smoking made a difference?  Who knows.  I am sure they did on occasion, but there was no noticeable evidence after they left.  

- As a side note, we would rather have a bunch of potheads living in our houses than a bunch of drunks.  We have had much more damage to the houses by people who had frequent alcohol parties.  Holes in the walls, broken shelves, broken mirrors, etc.  The potheads tend to be much more mellow.

Obviously this is simply anecdotal evidence, but I thought I would chime in since we have had experience with this one.