What is one to do in this situation? HELP needed now.....

[azmmjadvocates]

I'd suggest sending him a certified letter stating you are protected under Arizona law point out that landlords cannot discriminate and that this information is confidential and you will file suit against him if he divulges the information to anyone. Give him a photocopy of your card and let him know that his access to your grow room under lock and key is at his and any locksmith's risk of the law.

One AZ case if you recall was a direct TV installer seeing a jar of MMJ, the gilbert police did a full dea style raid. Gilbert took a beating in the media and the patient told the reporters that he showed the direct tv guy his card, the direct tv guy said no he didn't, the police said they don't know who is legal and who is not until they ask (knock your door down) That sounds scarey but anylize what i just said. The MMJ patient couldn't prove he showed the direct tv guy his card, if he could he'd have a suit. That is why you notify the landlord via certified mail or video tape you showing him your card and reading the law to him.

The landlord can make a safety inspection, in that letter ask him where he needs to inspect and why, then you may be able to file in court against him and tell it to the judge if he is just making excuses.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

If he pushes the issue, tell him you will call the police and tell them he is trying to get into your grown and have him arrested lol.

 

[El Cerebro]

I'd suggest sending him a certified letter stating you are protected under Arizona law point out that landlords cannot discriminate and that this information is confidential and you will file suit against him if he divulges the information to anyone. Give him a photocopy of your card and let him know that his access to your grow room under lock and key is at his and any locksmith's risk of the law.

One AZ case if you recall was a direct TV installer seeing a jar of MMJ, the gilbert police did a full dea style raid. Gilbert took a beating in the media and the patient told the reporters that he showed the direct tv guy his card, the direct tv guy said no he didn't, the police said they don't know who is legal and who is not until they ask (knock your door down) That sounds scarey but anylize what i just said. The MMJ patient couldn't prove he showed the direct tv guy his card, if he could he'd have a suit. That is why you notify the landlord via certified mail or video tape you showing him your card and reading the law to him.

The landlord can make a safety inspection, in that letter ask him where he needs to inspect and why, then you may be able to file in court against him and tell it to the judge if he is just making excuses.

Such an excellent post. This is why I suggested the modest investment for an mmj lawyer consult. Others are correct about inspections with notice and landlord/tenant law, but by going in heavy (lawyer advice and certified letter in this case) you have a much better chance of convincing them you're willing to be reasonable but will cause endless hassles for them if they give you more grief.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

Also suggest the landlord consult an attorney, as your rights supersede his because you are required to keep it under lock and key, be sure to tell that to the locksmith too and state he will be prosecuted, if I were a locksmith i'd s want no part of that. I'm just saying what I would do, it's a tough situation your in.

 

[sky high]

C'mon folks...just because you have a card doesn't mean you can lie/evade/forget to tell the truth upfront and can superceed someone else's RIGHT as a property owner.

You may be able to keep them out of yer locked room....but in 30 days...yer ass is gonna be out on the street with NO locked room and there's nothing you can do to stop THAT.

just play fair upfront and let folks know what you are doing in THEIR home and you can avoid all of this posturing (and moving).

s h

 

[El Cerebro]

What posturing? Yes, it appears the OP made some mistakes initially in how to approach this professionally (probably be cause he is not a professional, just a disabled vet with family trying to manage life in difficult circumstances). Really, wtf is wrong with spending $35 and an hour of your time to talk wIth someone who deals with this for a living and can tell you exactly what to expect? I mean an attorney isn't going to say, "let's be complete assholes to you landlord, just for the hell of it, and see how that goes." They will advise you of the law (which OP clearly didn't know and made 2 mistakes in his subsequent actions as a result - denying inspection, asserting privacy rights he doesn't have), and if you decide to proceed they will work to secure the best outcome for you on a professional level (a 'good' attorney, lots of lame ones around too).

If landlord is reasonable/ethical person, maybe having a third-party mediatior would even help repair the relationship moving forward, especially if OP is an especially good tenant as he claims. But if the landlord is unreasonable and insists on causing un-due grief without cause, don't take it personally just ask the lawyer if it's worth sending letters as above, and if not save your time/$/effort for moving. My main point was that often when people are unreasonable, they can be encouraged to back off if met with heavy professionalism (threat letter from lawyer explaining how expensive and aggravating landlords life will be to continue hassling). All that being said, if tenant is the one being an asshole, damaging property, violating lease agreement etc, well I think those of us responding like me wouldn't have much sympathy.

I was taking the op at his word for being good tenant, and have been in that position myself with completely unreasonable landlord and mgmt company who violated the law repeatedly. I'm glad his house ended up empty for years and vandalized afterward, he deserved it. Aside from the resulting eyesore, all the other neighborhood homeowners agreed, and in fact were the ones encouraging me to sue.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

Sky High, by your comment it appears to me that you haven't read Arizona prop 203, have you? Our law includes provisions (lessons taken from other states) regarding landlords as well as protections from being discriminated against in family court with regards to having our kids taken away.. I am telling the truth, look it up for yourself, i'm not going to spoon feed you. YOU MUST keep your grow under lock and key, if his landlord has a card himself maby he can legally go in, law enforcement can go in because they are certified to handle drugs, not a landlord and not a locksmith. It's a criminal offense to try and break into somebody's grow as opposed to a civil right of a landlord to inspect for just cause, emergency or to make repairs, so I don't back down in saying that I firmly believe our NEW right superceeds a landlords OLD right. It's spelled out in prop 203 that landlords cannot discriminate and prevent you from having a medical grow, period, FACT, do your homework.

This is one reason to demand the landlord tell you why he needs to inspect, so your can sue his ass for discrimination if he is just making up an excuse to invade your privacy and be snoopy. Ive prevented federal inspections before, many years ago, in section 8 housing for mostly improper notifications, the inspectors threatened eviction and had to eat their words. You think tenants, especially disabled ones don't have rights that supersede a landlords desire to do whatever he wants with his property?

Nobody said to be disrespectful but there is a point where you should not have to be a pushover.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

I lied i will spoonfeed. ARS 36-2801 section 6 "enclosed', locked facility" means a closet, room, greenhouse or other security devices that permit access only by a cardholder' now that's pretty easy to understand if you ask me, and if i was a landlord i'd be worried about being arrested.

You can read 36-2813 titled discrimination prohibited, the only way the landlord can discriminate is if he will loose federal funding due to federal law.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

a landlord may insist that a tenant remedy health and safety noncompliances during the period of occupancy. If the tenant does not do so, then the landlord may enter the dwelling and cause the work to be done, requiring reimbursement with the next rental payment, or immediately if the lease has been terminated. All of this is subject to the conditions of A.R.S. § 33-1369, as follow:


• The landlord must provide you advance written notice specifying the breach, except in the case of emergency.

• The notice must allow you fourteen days to remedy the noncompliance, except in the case of emergency.
• The work required is limited to noncompliances with A.R.S. § 33-1341 materially affecting health and safety.
• The noncompliance must be capable of being remedied by repair, replacement of a damaged item, or cleaning.
• The landlord must cause the work to be done in a workmanlike manner.
• The landlord must submit to you an itemized bill for the actual and reasonable cost, or fair and reasonable value of the work that was done.

here are some more citings worth reading:
A.R.S. § 33-1367, due to the landlord's unlawful removal or exclusion of the tenant from the premises, or due to the landlord's willful diminution of essential services to the tenant, or, by reference, due to the landlord's retaliatory conduct against the tenant.
• A.R.S. § 33-1376(B), by inference, insofar as the tenant may terminate due to the landlord's abuse of access to the rental dwelling, or makes repeated demands for access that harass the tenant.
• A.R.S. § 33-1381, by inference, insofar as the tenant is entitled to remedies provided in A.R.S. § 33-1367, in response to the landlord's retaliatory conduct.

I think you get the point.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

Again demand he tell you why he needs to inspect.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

Everybody be sure to be upfront to a landlord and say "oh by the way i grow medical marijuanna, you dont' have a problem with that do you?" You don't have any family members I need to worry about robbing me do you?" common, your ridiculous... lol I do have a house I'll rent you sky high,, just let me know, you can trust me.. Your a well known farmer who doesn't know the basic rule of trust nobody?

 

[cemchris]

Has that actually stood up in court?

The easiest thing is find a MMJ friendly landlord. Then all of this would/can be avoided. When you hide shit this is what happens. If you chose to go down that road then you have to deal with what that situation warrants. Yall talk about all this protection and such then why act like you aren't in a med state. Forget your card and laws on the books. That doesn't mean shit. Cops can still arrest you and tie you up in all sorts of legal fees. In the end you might come out on top but do you want to go through that? Tearing plants out seems to be the easy way. In a non med state this is cut and dry. Throw a piece of paper into it and the whole game changes. Give me a fucking break.

Don't get me wrong. Your situation sucks. Being a Vet I don't wish anything bad to fall in your lap or you to incur any hardships. Nothing but love but welcome to all of our non med state lives. Comes with the game.

Everybody be sure to be upfront to a landlord and say "oh by the way i grow medical marijuanna, you dont' have a problem with that do you?" You don't have any family members I need to worry about robbing me do you?" common, your ridiculous... lol I do have a house I'll rent you sky high,, just let me know, you can trust me.. Your a well known farmer who doesn't know the basic rule of trust nobody?

Yea because I'm sure they don't exist anywhere huh? So you say send him this certified letter explaining in detail on paper what you do but don't tell anyone or trust them. So which one is it?

"health & safety noncompliances" <--- this right there. You are fucked. Unless you have a licensed and inspected grow room with permits. "The notice must allow you fourteen days to remedy the noncompliance, except in the case of emergency" <--- "He's gonna burn my house down"

I would rent to MMJ patiens. What to know why? They would ALWAYS PAY THEIR RENT. Not to mention If they wanted to modify stuff I would be in the loop instead of them fucking the house off.

 

[El Cerebro]

I lied i will spoonfeed. ARS 36-2801 section 6 "enclosed', locked facility" means a closet, room, greenhouse or other security devices that permit access only by a cardholder' now that's pretty easy to understand if you ask me, and if i was a landlord i'd be worried about being arrested.

You can read 36-2813 titled discrimination prohibited, the only way the landlord can discriminate is if he will loose federal funding due to federal law.

This rocks, good for AZ (even though their law leaves a lot to be desired on other issues). For those who don't understand why this is so important to us, do you struggle with disabilities? No offense, but I never knew how badly sick and disabled people get treated by our society until I became one.

Hey cemchris thanks for the offer, and certainly no offense meant here either, but I just can't see teaming up with an mmj-friendly landlord.. [and for so many reasons will leave it at that]

 

[sky high]

Maybe someday you'll have yer shit together enough to stop renting and you'll find out what it is like to be a property owner, el.

Probably not...but maybe.

Trust? Seems you don't know the meaning of the word...and you sure don't know me well enough to make any judgements about who I might rent to/how I would carry out a lease/etc. as a landlord....especially as someone who is merely a renter with no obvious respect for anyone but yerself.

be well...

s h

 

[cemchris]

This rocks, good for AZ (even though their law leaves a lot to be desired on other issues). For those who don't understand why this is so important to us, do you struggle with disabilities? No offense, but I never knew how badly sick and disabled people get treated by our society until I became one.

Hey cemchris thanks for the offer, and certainly no offense meant here either, but I just can't see teaming up with an mmj-friendly landlord.. [and for so many reasons will leave it at that]

I live in a non med state and have rented on more then one occasion. If it's doable here then it is there to. It worked out in my favor in both situations. Again it's not a cut and dry situation. Lots of things to consider. To put it this way I wouldn't have a thread on here bout this because I wouldn't be in that situation. Simple as that. Not to mention I would never get a call like this.

 

[El Cerebro]

but I just can't see teaming up with an mmj-friendly landlord.. [and for so many reasons will leave it at that]

Mmj-friendly landlord in a non-med state? Are you freakin crazy? No way I'd get near that from either side!

 

[fishwhistle]

You should have immediately broken down your grow,let the landlord inspect and then re-set back up,problem solved and no one the wiser,landlord probably would have never come back.I own a couple rental properties which basically just pay for themselves and maintenance,not really any profit left over to fix things tenants fuck up,that comes out of my pocket so i would already be trying to figure out why your so paranoid about me seeing my own property and how to get you out, Red flags for sure.Ive never had anyone ask to grow MJ on my properties but if they did id say no problem if you do it outside but i would not let them do it inside,My buddy did this and ended up with like 12 grand in damages,they completely fucked up the wood floors with water,damaged all the drywall and screwed up the electrical big time and he was damn lucky they did not burn the place down.Most people dont know wtf they are doing and have no respect for others property,they just hack in a grow thinking there gonna make a bunch of money and then when all their plants die because they dont know shit they have no cash to fix everything they f'ed up.Id like to see pics of your room,is everything set up safely,gfi protected and on the right size breakers?how many amps are you pulling through those lines and what are they rated for?How are you bringing in air and getting out moisture?Do you have a vapor barrier on my drywall to protect it?what about the floor?did you modify my electrical panel without my knowledge?If your in a bedroom your probably on a 15 maaaybe 20 amp circuit,so even if your in a tent with a 600,some ventilation and timers your probably drawing too many amps unless you modified the panel.Thank you for your service,i salute you,but that in no way allows you to violate others rights on their property,Im not from AZ but ill bet if you went to court the judge would tell you tough shit if you dont like it.

 

[El Cerebro]

Hey Fish and Sky, you'll both be glad to know my answers to all those tenant questions are yes (including the electrical panel mod, but done properly/safely, and easy to return the way I found it). And I don't grow in bedrooms.

You guys know that landlords who allow illegal manufacture of a controlled substance are committing a federal crime worse than just growing weed, right? (not something I'd risk, even if I didn't have a garden of my own for them to raid when they come with my felony warrant)

As for what's likely in court and what the judge might say, I'd rather take advice on that from an experienced mmj-attorney than a bunch of cartoon-characters like us on an internet forum. (again, no offense meant - since we all know how sensitive we cartoons can be sometimes)

 

[fishwhistle]

Hey Fish and Sky, you'll both be glad to know my answers to all those tenant questions are yes (including the electrical panel mod, but done properly/safely, and easy to return the way I found it). And I don't grow in bedrooms.

You guys know that landlords who allow illegal manufacture of a controlled substance are committing a federal crime worse than just growing weed, right? (not something I'd risk, even if I didn't have a garden of my own for them to raid when they come with my felony warrant)

As for what's likely in court and what the judge might say, I'd rather take advice on that from an experienced mmj-attorney than a bunch of cartoon-characters like us on an internet forum. (again, no offense meant - since we all know how sensitive we cartoons can be sometimes)

El C,My comment wasnt directed at you bro i was just trying to present the other side of the story,frankly ive never inspected a property myself as i never felt the need to,If i dropped by to see one of my tenants about something they would probably say ''hey come on in"anyways but if they did like the original poster and said you cant come in your violating my rights id be like wtf does this dude got to hide?He brought shit down on himself.Not all peeps are responsible like you either El C.Frankly i dont want to know what they do in there,I just dont wanna have to chase rent and i want my property returned to me in the same condition i gave it to them in.

 

[azmmjadvocates]

I guess this Arizona section has others posting from liberal states like Oregon, California, heck Colorado too, all of which I lived in previously. Arizona is a different matter, In those states I can agree it would be much easier to find a landlord sympathetic to MMJ cultivation, trying to find a sympathetic landlord puts your neck on the line though, you might want to do that, not me. If your open enough to tell people the likes of strangers that you cultivate, i gotta wonder if the two of you aren't typing from the same IP, of course we won't know. I think your approach is way unrealistic to think that most of us will tell our landlord or anyone for that matter.

The man stated in his post that his disability prevents him from boxing everything up, I guess we should leave it all to the arrogant pro's right? Will a house burn down, flood, etc. from cultivating MMJ or tobacco for that matter? Sure, they do by renters and owners doing all sorts of stupid things, non growers destroy my rentals all the time, it goes with being a landlord and my hands are tied if I don't want to rent to someone black, Mexican, disabled like me, whatever and all groups of ppl damage property. I help patients do it right, that's what this forum is for I though? I'm sorry I let myself get angry and reflect that in my writing, this isn't a pissing match. This man has a real problem and I offered a solution, you don't agree great, I don't agree with you either about landlords on every corner that would love to have a MMJ grower. I disagree and would not suggest to those I consult to tell anyone, including relatives, about your grow, its asking for trouble. Reading between the lines i believe you are pissed because you are landlords and have gotten screwed before by tenants, again it goes with the job.

We have a solid law that has teeth and I believe few landlords including yourselves would like to spend thousands of dollars against me in court. The posts I stated regarding tenant law were to show the landlord better have a reason to inspect and put it in writing, like a cop having probable cause. Once you point to the law regarding harassment of a tenant the landlord will likely not want any part of that or the protesters like me who will picket and make it a news worthy story. Boy it's funny to see the back peddling like when an employer fired a nurse here, "were sorry it was all a big mistake, we thought she quit" lol.. I gave steps to take so the landlord would be forced to keep his mouth shut, I gave steps to take so that he wouldn't be able to back peddle because the vet wold be able to have proof he notified him of his rights under the law and that subsequent actions to evict were just retaliation, of which I provided law citing s that the landlord could be held liable. I gave all these steps so that if retaliation did happen and attorney would take his case on contingency and the vet could own that house. So you would honestly like to come up against me in court? lol i don't think so, you'd keep your mouth shut and be happy I'm a good neighbor who takes care of your house.

P.S The Ozarks are pretty sympathetic too, you get out of jail as soon as the cops harvest your crop, no charges. My dad wasn't even in a cell for that matter, sitting there waiting for mom and I to pick him up with his feet on the sheriff's desk. Another move again to find a sympathetic landlord, yea right, you sure you guys are legit?