Tips to Avoid Drug Production at Your Rental Properties

Investing in real estate and renting out your properties is one of the best ways to secure steady, almost passive income. It’s still a job, though, and it comes with its fair share of ups and downs.

You’ll be dealing with a wide variety of people, some kind and some not so much. This means you need to be prepared for unit violations and building violations. After all, you never know what might happen.

One thing many landlords need to be careful of, but often overlook, is potential drug activity on their property.

Illegal Drugs in Your Building

If drugs are found on rental property, the landlord not only shares some of the blame but also the penalties. This holds true even if you implement immediate eviction due to drug use or production — which you are well within your right to do.

You may be subject to fines and criminal penalties if you knowingly allowed such things to happen. In some cases, you may even face lawsuits from the other tenants. Depending on the state you live in, you may even be forced to temporarily lose your rental building or unit. Take note that in extreme cases law enforcement officials can confiscate rental property where drug dealing occured.

Even if you’re lucky enough to escape all of that, it can be much harder to rent out your property at competitive rates after people learn it used to be a meth lab or drug dealing site. And that’s on top of spending more money to get the unit or building back to its original, tip-top shape.

Tips for Screening Your Tenants 

Screening your potential renters is the best way to prevent illegal drug dealing on rental property. Make sure to interview your future tenants properly and inspect their documents.

Here are a few screening tips and red flags to look out for:

• Always do a thorough background and credit check.
• Talk to your potential tenants in person.
• Consider asking for references from their past landlord or property managers.
• Have a second set of eyes to look through everything with you, ideally an experienced landlord.
• Be wary of prospective tenants who are overly interested in the electrical supply, wiring, and electric meter.
• Watch out for potential renters who are not interested in normal property features, like the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms, or proximity to public transport.

How to Prevent or Catch Drug Production in Your Property

Yes, prevention is better than cure. We’ve all heard that saying hundreds of times. But you’re only human — there’s bound to be a crack or two in your defenses and meticulous screenings.

So, what do you do when this happens? If you suspect some of your residents are involved in illegal drug production or dealings, immediate eviction due to drug use may cause problems for you — especially on the off chance you are wrong.

Here’s what you can do instead:

Keep Records of Payment 

Insist on keeping records of lease payment for each tenant. This means no cash or barter payments. Keep things digital, if possible, so everything is easier. If not, then issue receipts for cash payments so you and your renter have proof of payments — or lack thereof.

Listen to Your Other Tenants

Always take your tenants’ concerns seriously. If your other residents express concerns regarding one unit or complain about potential suspicious activity, make sure to listen to them. Afterward, follow through on taking appropriate action.

Be as Involved as Possible

Make sure to visit your property as frequently as possible. More than that, form connections and establish rapport with your tenants. This applies even if you have a property manager and maintenance staff. Your tenants and neighbors should know who you are and trust you enough.

Keep Track of Violations

The unit or building violations your tenants make can tell you a lot about potential illegal drug activity. We know this can be difficult, especially if you have several units and tenants. Using a property management software like Exact Estate will help make this easier.

Exact Estate offers violation tracking to track any issues you may face. Even better, they also offer online payments and processing, a customizable system, and a host of detailed reports to streamline your rental property management tasks.

Warning Signs of Illegal Drug Activity

You should always keep an ear on the ground and a close eye on your tenants. After all, you can’t go to the authorities based only on your gut feeling and other tenants’ suspicions. You’ll need something more concrete than those.

Here are some signs your tenants may be up to illegal drug activities.

Excessive Humidity

Keep an eye on the humidity levels of your rental properties. If they are excessively and consistently high, then you may have an illegal marijuana growing operation on your hands. 

High humidity levels are essential for growing cannabis plants. Some signs look out for when you pay your renters a visit are:

• Mildew growth on the carpet
• Peeling or cracking paint
• Condensation or foggy windows
• Rotting wood floors, doors, or window sills
• Moist and clammy air in the unit

Up Front and Cash Only Payments

Be wary of residents who only want to pay in cash — especially if they insist on paying up front for the entire duration of their tenancy contract. With almost everyone today using digital modes of payment, large cash payments are especially suspect.

Upfront cash payments limit visits to their place or the building itself. If they really are involved in cultivating, manufacturing, or drug dealing on rental property, they will want you as far away from the place as much as possible.

Lastly, by not giving you any of their digital wallet, bank, or checking details they can minimize potential leads that could lead back to them if their operations were discovered.

Blacked-Out Windows

Black out curtains may have become popular as more people work overnight shifts, but it still isn’t normal for windows to be blocked shut for days on end. Even if your renter is a night-shift worker, they will still open the curtains sometime around the afternoon and the evening.

But if your renter is involved in growing cannabis, producing opiates, or dealing drugs, they will want to keep their windows blacked out 24/7 for absolute privacy.

Chemistry Equipment

If “Breaking Bad” has taught us anything, it’s that chemistry knowledge and access to chemistry equipment is all you really need to make meth. So beware of tenants with several beakers, flasks, rubber tubings, and other laboratory equipment.

Unless their work involves chemistry or it’s an actual hobby of theirs, then there’s a reasonable chance they have a meth lab in their unit.

Too Much Unusual Trash

It’s a good idea to also keep an eye out for how much trash a suspicious tenant generates. If they put out more trash than their other units, that’s one possible strike against them.

We don’t necessarily recommend dumpster diving, but if your tenant throws out a lot of duct tape, lantern fuel cans, drain cleaners, and antifreeze containers, you have reason to be suspicious. All of those are items needed for meth production.

The Takeaway

With all the potential risks and dangers, it is paramount that you remain vigilant and stay on top of your tenant screening and property management. A potential drug ring or lab in your property not only endangers your source of income but, more importantly, the lives of all your other tenants.

As the landlord, responsibility for illegal activity will fall on you. After all, screening them properly and keeping track of how they use or treat your property is all your responsibility.