Tenant grew pot, ruined downstairs, advice?

[Morgana Wyze]

I had tenants in on a 2 year lease in CA. They paid rent through the pandemic. But when their lease was up, I wanted out of CA rentals, as they were passing legislation on rent control.. I could not do tenant inspection through Covid, I had moved to th East coast. I  put the house on the market and  then found they had used the downstairs area as a pot grow.. All of the engineered wood was ruined, 1500 s.f.  I had to repair electrical and plumbing issues. The house is under contract for 10k less than asking ( and I put it on the market 25k less than comps). This makes me sick to the stomache, but I will probably return the tenants deposit in a "cash for keys" just to get them out for the close of sale. These tenants had a "drug free" clause to their lease prohibiting drugs and a pet free lease (they had pit bull puppies, snakes, turtles and rats). What I learned from this is to never do a 2 year lease and inspect every 3 months. Any other advice?

[Nathan Gesner]

So the tenants cause $10,000 in damages, are costing you $35,000 in lost equity, making you sick to your stomach, and your plan is to pay them?

The eviction moratorium was for non-payment of rent. There's no reason why you can't evict them for damaging the property and then sue them for damages, which is exactly what you should do. Or tell them you'll let them off the hook if they vacate prior to closing and compensate you for 50% of the damages.