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Is Indoor Marijuana Allowed for Tenants in California?
California is known as 'Marijuana County USA' for its dominance as a marijuana-growing hub. More than one-fifth of the region's residents grow marijuana. But, what happen when you find your tenants are growing marijuana in your rental property?
When marijuana cultivators sneak their way into a property, they regularly cause a lot of harm by developing marijuana in your rental property period.
Remedial Marijuana is lawful in California
Medical marijuana is lawful in California, but recreational marijuana is definitely not. But since cannabis is not sanctioned under federal law, it trumps all state as well as local laws, further confusing matters. The federal government and states across the nation are presently managing the approval of medical and recreational marijuana, and the boundless consequences it creates
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According to Senate Bill 420…
California State Senate Bill 420 does not clearly address the privileges of curative cannabis patients as tenants, and that bit of law has yet to be fleshed out in the courts. Tenants' rights are represented via landlord/tenant law. In a rental circumstance, you can have issues with your tenant on marijuana cultivation when contrasted with ownership and use alone.
Under federal law, patients have no rights and all marijuana is illicit. Luckily, federal law enforcement has little interest for the patient-cultivator tenants, and as a landlord of that property, you can face risk of asset penalty.
Adding a Clause to Lease Terms
You can prohibit your renters from cultivating marijuana on your property by adding a relevant clause to the lease terms. If your agreement lacks such a clause, you can use the anti-drug or crime policy including in most of the lease agreement. You can send him a written notice regarding the violation of lease conditions by mentioning the right clause. If your tenant grows pots after the notice, you’ve a right to evict him.
Well, your tenant can complain that marijuana is no more outlaw and they must be permitted to use or smoke it. In this scenario, you can show him the anti-crime and drug clause from your lease terms, which can challenge the legality of marijuana use in the state.
As it has been stated earlier, a lease agreement can be the way to stop your tenants from growing marijuana. For that, you can use these clauses in your agreement:
1. Landlord’s written consent is required before medical or recreational marijuana may be grown on this property’s premises.
2. This is a nonsmoking place. Therefore, any form of smoking including medical marijuana, inside the home or on the premises is prohibited.
However, in the absence of such clauses, you may have difficulty to stop your tenant from growing marijuana. You can consult an attorney knowing the state and municipality landlord-tenant laws to find an optimal solution.
In concluding lines, under the federal law, growing marijuana, using it or having it in your ownership is a criminal offense in the Golden State. And, for this reason, it is essential that unless your tenants have the medical consent to use it, you can’t let them grow marijuana at your property.
Comments (3)
Hi Jeet, great article. Where (other than just googling) do you learn about tenant rights? Have you typically had a real estate lawyer look over your rental agreements to finalize them after you've written a draft? Thanks!
Christine Robinson, about 8 years ago
Thanks Josh for your additional inputs.
Jeet Sangha, about 8 years ago
If you let them grow it, you will need a much bigger security deposit to get rid of the smell.
You will also make sure that they know that they can't hard wire grow lights into your unit.
Josh Caldwell, about 8 years ago