All Forum Posts by: Bienes Raices

I wouldn't do it...although I don't know your market and what kind of tenant you can get vs. what is available there...

Even if two of them are good, roommate situations can blow up without warning. I've had it happen. What if there is a fight and the two good ones move out and you are stuck with the evictee and the bankruptcy? 

Pass.

@James

Well having gotten into it myself for a brief period many years ago, I can say that not everyone who does cocaine is a strung out mess...obviously it's not good for you, but then neither is binge drinking.

But I would wait awhile and see what happens before getting rid of this tenant. He is paying his rent. 

And Scott S. above makes an important point--the stuff might belong to the daughter.

@James DeRoest

No, I don't sit monitoring...unfortunately I know from experience that a tenant doesn't have to be using drugs to bring in unauthorized occupants, or cause other types of trouble. I am there mowing lawns from time to time so I keep track of what's going on. Letting any rental property go for to long without checking up on it is a recipe for trouble.

I respect your opinion, but there is no indication that this person is a junkie from the fact that powder cocaine was found one time in the unit. OP did not mention this person causing disruptions or complaints from neighbors. OP said there has never been any other trouble with this person. My motto is don't panic until it's time to panic.

You could immediately try to evict this person based on the drugs. If the eviction fails in court then your stuck with a hostile tenant who may stop paying, or damage the unit. If the eviction works...well you have to find a new person. That new person may have small children who tear up the unit. Or bring in an unauthorized dog that causes damage. Pick your poison.

^It seems a lot of people here are jumping the gun here...nowhere did OP state that junkies are coming and going from the house, or that drugs are being manufactured in the unit...

Is it great that someone is using drugs in the unit? No. But this probably happens a lot more than any of us realize. This tenant just happened to leave his stuff out when the landlord came over on short notice.  Would this be a problem if it were going on but the OP never found out about it?

We don't police alcohol use in our units. At least I don't. You deal with problems that arise from it -- domestic violence, noise complaints, drama.

As for advice...I don't know if the OP has already dealt with this problem, but if not...if this is something your really worried about, drive by the unit late at night, see if there are strange people coming and going...do a safety inspection (with proper notice according to your state law) in a few months to see if the unit is in good condition.

If this person has a real drug problem he will try to short you on the rent at some point since all the money will be going towards ATM runs to get more coke...at the point you file for eviction...if that doesn't happen, let sleeping dogs lie, but make sure he goes to M2M lease once the one year expires, so that you can terminate quickly if things do go downhill in the future. But I would not call the police over the coke alone. Why create drama where there isn't any.

Personally I'd rather have a tenant sniffing coke than smoking marijuana, which can leave an odor and possibly the need to re-paint after they leave.

If they have been good otherwise, I would pretend I never saw this. If they cause other trouble in the future, then non-renew the lease at lease end, or evict if they don't pay.

I would never get the police involved in this, unless it was a very serious situation (rental turned into a crack house, dealers there). It sounds like this person is not at that level.

I have it at one house (Safe Touch system, was in there when I bought the property). The tenant set it up in their own name (billed to them). Any calls go to them. If the alarm code changes make sure to get it from the tenant in case you have to enter the unit in an emergency! I put it in my lease that they must provide the code.

"Outdoor dogs"? Is that like outdoor smokers? 

@Jeff S. 

Thank you! Just what I was trying to find out...

Should you buy some type of special insurance to do this as well?

This is sort of similar to a post I made a few months ago (sorry), but there is a difference...

If you invest in fractionalized notes (is that the correct term?) through a firm, rather than becoming a solo hard money investor, should you still make your investment using an LLC? Or does the firm that's handling the mortgage and all the business take all the legal risk, and I just act as a back end investor, just as if I were buying a stocks or mutual funds? Thanks once again.