Drug dealer in my Calgary rental?

[TerryKruse]

This issue has two parts to it.

We received a threatening letter this morning taped to our personal house door.

The letter tells us that our rental home is inhabited by drug dealers and if we don`t evict them right away (both the upper and lower suite) that the letter writers will be forced to take matters into their own hands. "If we choose to do nothing then we will face the consequences." There is more to it and concludes with the phrase "we hope we do not have to visit your home again"

The letter writers typed the letter, left no names or any other information.

We have toured the rental in the last few months and see no evidence of drugs. We don`t know if they are dealing but know this is not a Grow Op. In fact, I was in the house with a repairman without the tenants there – the tenants knew I was there and weren`t concerned.

If we saw any indication of drugs then we would evict them right away. They are young people and have tattoos so they may look like they do drugs to a neighbour??


The dilemmas are:

The letter scares me more than the drug situation. Obviously they searched title to get our names and personal home address. Can a person use a box number or a lawyer address on a title? There are several threats to us in the letter and I would like our home address removed from the title. Can this be done?

Secondly, we can`t evict someone without evidence. If they are dealing drugs we want them out, but if they not dealing and are paying rent on time and taking of the house it is not right.

One of the tenants lease is up in 3.5 months. He has been a good tenant as far as we know. If there was even a bit of evidence we could jack his rent up a lot but what if he is innocent?


I plan to take this letter to the police in the area the house is in. Hopefully the police can canvas the area and find out if the neighbour has real evidence. They delivered the letter anonymously and it was really threatening so who knows if they will admit it.. I am not sure what can be done.

I find this situation frustrating and scary.


Terry Kruse

 

[Nir]

Do take it to the police and share your concerns with them. However, do not worry! in 99.99% of the cases such warnings mean nothing.
Many people warn other people they will do different things everyday. but how many crimes are really happening? plus, it is OBVIOUS in this case that it is NOT your fault even if they do drugs. I`m sure 100% the sender understands that too. cheers.

 

[GarthChapman]

Definately take the letter to the Police, but make a copy first for you to keep. You should ask them if the tenants are known to the Police. Ask subtly and they are likely to give you a subtle answer - if it is `yes` then you know that something is not right with them. You may have to ask the question a few times to get the phrasing so that they can answer you without being off-side with thte rules the have to operate under. They will want to help you but their hands are tied in how they can and cannot do that. Unfortunately the cowards who wrote you haven`t got the courage to sign their names to their letter, and that leaves you less able to properly address their accusations.

Then I would go and personally canvas the neighbours. Maybe take the letter with you in case you see an opportunity to use it. You will get a good sense from the neighbours of what your tenants are like, and you may well find out who might have written the letter. This can also be a good way to get a message back to the letter`s authors - be sure to say you have gone to the Police and that they have the letter.

You can be able to go to the Land Titles Office and change the address - I think you can even do it online. You must have an address listed so you can be contacted by parties with an interest of any sort on the property - and you want that to be the way it is. It is what gets you notified when a party makes a claim on the property and more. You can use a PO Box to preserve the anonymity of your personal address.

Hope that helps a bit,

 

[willy]

Could be a case of neighbours having a dispute of some sort, and one saying "I`ll get him, I`ll get him evicted, that ****!", which leads to them writing your letter.
Anybody that would threaten your family`s safety in an anonymous letter isn`t deserving of much respect or credit, and probably isn`t a very upstanding member of the community themselves. The letter in itself is criminal.

No advice on how to deal with it except impress upon the police that you consider this a serious matter.

w

 

[TerryKruse]

I went to the local police station and they are closed today.

A few months ago the police were at the home. We were notified a couple of days later by the downstairs tenant (the one the letter writer said is in on the drug dealing). When I tried to get information on why they were at the home, but the police couldn`t tell me (freedom of information....).

We posted a 24 hour notice to enter and toured the home. Everything was fine. We asked the tenant what the problem was and he said an old girl freind made a complaint against him.

When the station was closed today, I phoned the non-emergency police line and had a long conversation with a police woman. She was able to imply that the charge might have been drug related. The tenant may have been charged but conviction can take up to a year.

I went to the neighbourhood and spoke to a few of the neighbours (didn`t find the letter writer though). Apparently, every neighbour I spoke to, thinks this is a drug house and I now believe them. I have left my phone number with the neighbours and told them to call if they see anything. I have no proof of anything though.

My quandary now is how do I get the tenant out of my house ASAP?

We could give another 24 hour notice to enter but I don`t think they are cooking or growing drugs in the house, especially since the police may be watching them. It would be easy for them to hide drugs from us - again no evidence. I asked the policewoman if I could bring the police with me but this cannot be done. Any evidence would not be admissible without a search warrant.

The upper tenants lease is expiring February 1st so there is no problem giving a 3 month notice (which I will do if there are no other options). The lower tenants lease expires in May but I am not sure they are guilty just because they have associated with the upper tenant.

I still plan to take the letter to the station tomorrow but we know that suspicious behavior is not enough to evict a tenant. What is? Does anyone know if a drug charge is enough evidence? Can I even find out if he has been charged?

Any suggestions would be appreciated.

Terry

 

[GarthChapman]

Terry, great to see you have quickly taken action. You do not need to give any notice at all that you will not be renewing a fixed term lease. You can, but you are not required to.

Next go read the Landlord Tenant Act - you may find something in there to allow you to evict the tenants early.

Are you eligible to raise the rent of the downstairs tenant? If so make it a huge raise. Best to clean house, even though you aren`t sure on the downstairs tenant.

Hope that helps,

 

[TerryKruse]

QUOTE (GarthChapman @ Oct 13 2008, 10:35 PM)
Terry, great to see you have quickly taken action. You do not need to give any notice at all that you will not be renewing a fixed term lease. You can, but you are not required to.



Next go read the Landlord Tenant Act - you may find something in there to allow you to evict the tenants early.



Are you eligible to raise the rent of the downstairs tenant? If so make it a huge raise. Best to clean house, even though you aren't sure on the downstairs tenant.



Hope that helps,








The downstairs tenants lease expires in May. I think I may give them an early notice of $1000 increase?? and say if they wish to move early it will be okay.



I plan to give a notice to enter both suites in the next few days (check window seals, smoke detectors, winterize etc).



The thing that bothers me most, is that we picked a great family neighborhood, paid a bit more for a larger floor plan and nicer home, created great suites, went through all of the tenant checklists and we still get this... I know it seems a bit bigger right now and once we get new people in these problems will seem smaller.



It really tells you that all of the tenant checks are really valuable though.



Terry

 

[RebeccaBryan]

Terry,

I had success getting rid of drug dealers I had in one of my properties. I didn`t go through the regular eviction process either. From start to finish they were only in my property for 20 days. They are doing illegal activity so they are fearful of getting caught and don`t like attention. You need to act quickly and with purpose but remember to always be aware of your safety and never go there alone.

I tried to find my posted topic about exactly what I did and the process and help other REIN members gave me but couldn`t. If you would like to give me a call I would be happy to help you.

 

[Savard]

All my houses have our PO Box listed on title. Your situation seals the case for this.

I had a "suspected" drug dealer across the street from one of my houses. I called the police a few times and sent a letter to the owner; I did not see any results. I than sent letters and made phone calls to the Sergeant and cross copied the District Inspector. Results did come and there was a police raid. The drug dealer moved out of the property.
I would be cautious doing this in my own house as I am fearful that a police raid would damage my house. I would try to hire a Sheriff to send warning letters and notices to the tenant with an offer to terminate the lease. Ask the Sheriff for advice as they have experience with these situations. Sounds like you are on top of the situation. The main priority is to get possession back on your suite.

 

[TerryKruse]

Rebecca,

I just read your prior post again. Great job and I should have read it again earlier.

I am visiting the police station first and I plan I will drop a neighbourhood letter in the mail boxes near my rental. It seems that this neighbourhood has many people that know each other and talk, so I know this will make them feel better and give them a way to help deal with the problem. If my letter writer is from this group he may come forward.

I will make a decision of whether to get rid of the upper tenant before the lease expires after I speak to the police.

I am also going to the Alberta Registries office and changing the address on title to a PO Box we have for real estate, including another rental property we own.

thanks a bunch
Terry

 

[RebeccaBryan]

Give them a 24 hour notice as well telling them you would like to a regular inspection of your property. Let them know in the letter that you will be taking pictures and that you will be doing a thorough inspection. Let them know that you have had complaints from the neighbors about drug deals being made, if that is so. These criminals do not like the attention. They just want to be left alone. Let them know that you will be watching the house, or neighborhood watch will be looking out for you, and/or neighbors are aware and police are aware as well.

Basically, make a plan, follow through with your plan and act quickly.

 

[TerryKruse]

QUOTE (RebeccaBryan @ Oct 14 2008, 01:46 PM) Give them a 24 hour notice as well telling them you would like to a regular inspection of your property. Let them know in the letter that you will be taking pictures and that you will be doing a thorough inspection. Let them know that you have had complaints from the neighbors about drug deals being made, if that is so. These criminals do not like the attention. They just want to be left alone. Let them know that you will be watching the house, or neighborhood watch will be looking out for you, and/or neighbors are aware and police are aware as well.

Basically, make a plan, follow through with your plan and act quickly.

By visiting the police station: they said I should be concerned, and then speaking to the community liaison officer, who was able to tell me that indeed there was drugs involved when they visited, I now have enough information to evict the upper tenant. I plan to do this tomorrow and this mess will be over at the end of the month. I am putting together the forms now and the police have offered a peace officer to accompany me if I wish.

For the downstairs tenants I am going to drop off a letter stating that this is a very close neighbourhood and there are concerns about drugs in the house. I will tell them that they have been seen associating with the upper tenant and if they are anyway involved or they are concerned about the eviction that they will be able to get out of their lease early if they wish. I will also give them a notice to enter at some time in this month.

I am also dropping of the documents to land titles putting our Box number for the address on the title. Apparently you cannot go to a Registry office for this service.

We are going to put a card in mail boxes around the home telling them we apologize for bringing the tenant into their neighbourhood and that the situation is being dealt with and that we will be getting better tenants into the house... or something like that.

Thanks for your help. Even just writing things down makes the situation easier to deal with.

Terry Kruse

 

[Nir]

good luck Terry! quite a challenge indeed. thanks for sharing. Neil

 

[realfortin]

QUOTE (TerryKruse @ Oct 14 2008, 05:05 PM) We are going to put a card in mail boxes around the home telling them we apologize for bringing the tenant into their neighbourhood and that the situation is being dealt with and that we will be getting better tenants into the house... or something like that.

I would wait until the tenants are gone, and tread litely without accusations as you may flirt with libel/slander laws. Be very broad.

RF

 

[TerryKruse]

QUOTE (realfortin @ Oct 17 2008, 03:37 PM) I would wait until the tenants are gone, and tread litely without accusations as you may flirt with libel/slander laws. Be very broad.

RF

I do intend to send the letter to neighbours after the problem tenant is out and I don`t intend to use his name. I want to make sure everything is okay with the neighbours and my new tenant/s.

Terry

 

[MichelSelim]

Terry, I am following your story. Hope all ended well.

 

[TerryKruse]

I think we are going to be okay.

We did a really thorough pre-move out inspection today and the tenant looks like he wants his damage deposit back. He seems resigned to the move and wanted to know if we had paint left to fix minor damage to a wall. I don`t anticipate any problems.

The downstairs tenants were told of the eviction, given an out if they wish to leave and they want to stay.

I never really had anything on the lower level tenants anyway and the problem tenant is a likable guy so being friendly with him doesn`t mean they are guilty. They do know we won`t tolerate any drugs.

I think this will be over with at the end of the month.

Quite an experience. It now seems to be a much smaller problem than I believed it to be at the time.

Terry

 

[DaveRhydderch]

Great job Terry. I think by being as proactive as you were, you were able to minimize the damage. As bad as it was to get that message at your own home, its great to know you have neighbours watching your place so closely.