What to do if my neighbors suspect my tenants are drug dealers?

Question

I own a property in Hawaii, 5000 miles away from where I live in Virginia. I lived in Hawaii for 8 years and am waiting for the high season (this Winter) to sell my house over there. In the meantime, I rented my house to a local Hawaiian couple for 8 months.

One of my neighbors called me today and said that there are a lot of people coming and going from my house in Hawaii, people only stay for a few minutes then go. My neighbors said they are 99% sure there is some sort of drug operation that the tenants are doing out of my house in Hawaii. My tenants tell me they have a lot of relatives that visit them.

I have no proof of a drug operation, and neither does my neighbor. My neighbor says it's just a lot of suspicious activity.

What should I do?

EDIT: Something also to consider -- I have a lot of my own personal stuff locked in the garage and a downstairs room of the house, including my truck, tools, and personal items. If it turns out these tenants are doing something illegal and get raided, I can't afford to lose my truck and personal items.

Account Closed · Answer

Do you know this neighbor well?  I'd be wondering why the neighbor isn't calling the police themselves, if they're so worried.

Personally, I would move the truck, which would make sense to the tenant, at least it wouldn't be weird, and that would be a smart thing to do anyway, even if you have a great tenant.

When your friend goes over there to deal with the truck, ask him to see if he gets any kind of drug dealing vibe, or if the place looks like it's being damaged.

If your friend says nothing seemed "off," then I'd just ignore the neighbor.  If the neighbor calls again, I'd say, "Yeah, I'm looking into it.  Thanks for calling!"  Rinse.  Repeat.

I wouldn't call the tenant and tell them what the neighbor said, either.  I wouldn't want to get into a drama where they're both calling me with the latest details of whatever's going on.

And I wouldn't call the cops either, until my friend told me I should.  You may just play into the neighbor's weird game.  Again, if the neighbor thinks the cops should be called, he has a phone.

Just have your friend check it out, move the truck, and if it's looking okay to your friend, leave the tenant alone and collect your rent without further drama.  Why jeopardize 6 months of rent, if you don't have to, and the place isn't being damaged?

Ally H. · Answer

Do you have an on-island agent (Hawaii law if you're off island: http://cca.hawaii.gov/rico/files/2014/03/MARCH-201...)?

If this is your personal friend who's on the island and you think that there is suspicious drug-related activity, then be careful of asking your friend to enter a possibly dangerous situation (low possibility, but not zero). If you do have a professional manager as your agent (and if not, I'd consider it if your suspicions are correct), then I would ask him/her to handle the situation.

Scott K. · Answer

Thanks for the replies.

The lease ends November 30th, there are 6 months left on the lease.

It would cost me a lot to fly over to Hawaii to move my truck out of the garage, so I might see if a friend can go over to the house and get my truck and have it shipped to me in Virginia (something I was planning on doing at the end of the lease anyway).

I just got off the phone with a retired L.A. police friend. He said that without evidence, the police will just blow me off. He said the police get calls reporting suspicious activity all the time, and it's impossible to respond to all of them and you never know which ones are legit and which ones are just using the police to hassle someone they have a beef with.

My L.A. police friend recommended 2 ideas -- 1) call the tenant and tell them that the neighbors have called me and they are suspicious of drug activity at the house. The tenants will deny it of course, but it puts them on notice, 2) contact the Hawaii police and ask them what do they recommend that I do.

James K. said --

This sounds like what my L.A. police friend said too. Sounds like the right advice. Raise the concern given by the neighbors to put the tenants on notice; Get my truck shipped out of the house; Start a paper trail with the police even if nothing gets done; Wait out the remaining time on the lease.

James K. · Answer

Well, you should contact authorities. Your claim is weak, but at least you can start the paper trailer. Since there is not really enough evidence for them to take any action, you can also ask them how to protect your personal property in the event of police action.

How many months are left in the 8th month lease? It will probably be faster to let the lease expire rather than try to evict.  You may want to consider making sure the tenant is "ok" because someone "reported suspicious activity" and ask them if they have seen or heard anything.  This way, you are not accusing anyone of anything, but lets them know that people are watching. Unfortunately with drug dealers, they are most likely not going to stop, but they may try to be a little more discrete which hopefully buys you a little more time.

Mindy Jensen · Answer

When does the 8 months end? Is there any chance you can go out and get your truck and personal items? Do you have a friend or family member who could get them for you and put them into storage?

Their behavior does sound suspicious. Lots of visiting relatives don't stay for only a few minutes...

What to do if my neighbors suspect my tenants are drug dealers?

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