Legal Question in Landlord & Tenant Law in California

Believe it or not, this question comes up fairly frequently - not in the exact context in which you raised it - but in one way or another, the question is what should a landlord do about a tenant who is breaking the law. First, in California, the water has been muddied by the passage of the Medicinal Marijuana Act, which under state law (in theory) allows a person who has a card, to possess marijuana for medicinal purposes. To the best of my knowledge (and admittedly, I am not an expert in the field of MM law), it does not, however, permit a card holder to grow marijuana. From a Federal perspective, there is no question that possession, growing or otherwise distributing marijuana is a crime. The Federal DEA can seize property where drugs are being grown, manufactured, distributed or otherwise possed. As such, as the landlord, you could theoretically be subject to involuntary seizure of your home if the Federal Government raided the property. That would be a tremendous problem as you would receive no compensation. You also have no idea if other drugs are being possessed or otherwise manufactured there. Meth is a hazardous substance, and if found to be manufactured there, the cost of remediation may exceed the actual value of your home.

I would suggest that you review their lease. If they have a month-to-month lease, given the sixty days notice (thirty if they have lived there less than one year) to terminate their tenancy. You are not legally required to give them any answer. Alternatively, if they have a term lease, then look to see if the lease contains terms about violations of law being violations of their lease. If so, give them a notice that they have breached the lease, and unless they remove all illegal narcotics from the property, you will evict them.

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