EVIDENCE OF HEROIN USE IN APARTMENT

I've had pot smokers, but unless I feel they are selling it, I've always looked the other way.

I have an apartment that has had 4 a/c calls in the last month where it is frozen up outside and inside. The system is a year old and we can't really find a problem.

While in the apartment a week ago, maintenance saw a clear plastic box on the coffee table with two large spoons, needles, medical tape and cotton balls in plain site. He took photos and showed them to me. We suspect Heroin use.

The tenant called again Monday and said the unit froze up again Friday night. I told her I was going with maintenance this time and do a complete service check on all vents, air filter, etc.

I looked around the apartment for anything suspicious. This is what I saw:

A large HEPA air filter in the kitchen.
A tiny amount of something burned on the breakfast bar.
A piece of aluminum foil in the trash can (I did not dig, it was on top) with a wide black line on one side and burned debri on the other.
In the spare bedroom, a mattress with no sheets and no bed frame, 6 beer cans and a receipt with a non-resident name on it.
Band-aids in nearly every room of the house.

I checked the names on the receipt and one name was someone with a long list of drug charges as recent as a year ago. Charges were, crack, cocaine, pot, prescription drugs.

I took the foil to drug enforcement police for tests. Still waiting.

Talked to a resident who said there is a lot of traffic in and out of the apartment every night and they usually don't stay more than an hour. She also told me a guy pulled up and got a large tower air filter out of his car and took it into the apartment. This was the night before she called to report the a/c frozen up again. It was the same color as the one I saw in the kitchen.

We suspect the a/c freezing up could be from leaving the back patio doors open while smoking in the kitchen (it's a non-smoking unit).

I don't really know what to do about this. I'm not doing anything until the test on the foil comes back, but I suspect heroin. They said it wasn't meth.

I think there is enough evidence for me that someone else is staying there. Maintenance has been to the apartment twice and reported a non-resident in the apartment alone. I believe it is the same guy whose name was on the receipt. Haven't seen him with a car, either.

I also thought it odd that they had 3 perfect years of rental history at a luxury A property in my market, but were late with their 2nd month's rent, which is $300 less than what they were paying.

Owner want them out, if it's Heroin.

How would you handle this if it is Heroin they are using. I'm very concerned about fumes going through the apartment next door. Cigarette smoke does.

Thanks!!

That's a tough one! I do my best to live and let live, as long as no one is being a mean spirited neighbor, blatantly violating their rental agreement, or causing property damage.

Smoking, especially chemicals like heroin, and freezing up the AC unit sounds like a legitimate reason to issue a for-cause termination. If you have documented complaints and/or personally witnessed smoke odors of any kind, I doubt they could even contest it successfully.

Personally though, I think I'd just issue a no-cause termination if their lease is expired, or if it expires soon, issue the no-cause for the date their lease is up.

In my state we have access to an "outrageous conduct" 24 hour termination. I've never used it, but it would be an available option.

Good Luck!

Sandy, it really does not make a difference if the person is using heroine or crack - it's the illegal drug use that is at issue. Second, this person may have had excellent renta history elsewhere because they were not yet fully immersed into drug addiction. Once they began into that slippery slope they knew to move to a less expensive place.

First, off, call the police contact you know and report the issue. All you need to say is you have suspected drug activity occurring in such-and-such Unit. You can also contact the Drug Enforcement Task Force of the state police department, local police department and/or sheriff's department to report this.

Second, do not remove items from the trash can of the apartment. It is not yet your property and can jeopardize the case. Things found in the dumpster is another story.

Third, watch the unit and record on video the people coming and going or you can hire a security guard to do this. Usually, the police will do this for you once you make the report. Get license plate numbers and descriptions of those entering, exiting, and length of time in unit. Keep your records for a week/month and turn that over to the police investigators. Remain in the background though - no need to stir up unnecesary danger. I will caution you - this is not something you should do without back-up from your company, if you feel scared, if you are in physical damger. Leave it to the people paid to protect you - the police.

Dealing with getting out drug dealers is not easy. You do not want to put yourself at risk, your company at risk or your other Residents. There are other things you can do, too, but for now, start with making the initial reports to the police departments and seek their advice.

Do you have a crime and drug free clause (or preferably an addendum) to your lease? When is their lease up? If they recently moved in; waiting for the lease to expire and not renewing them for any reason may not be practical as it puts the property at risk for too long.

Even if you have direct personal knowledge of the subject and what to look for; get the experts (law enforcement) involved if you suspect that illegal activity is occurring on property. You want independent third party verification of suspected activity. If they ask for personal confidential information as part of their investigation; make sure you have a court order to do so. You are still the property manager and are still responsible to maintain confidentiality; so any release of personal information must be documented. If your resident is the recipient of a housing choice voucher, or other housing assistance; the housing authority needs to be involved as well. In the case of marijuana, even if it is for medicinal use and that use is legal in your state; it is still against federal law and housing assistance/vouchers are under the jurisdiction of the federal government. It is my understanding that medical marijuana is cause for the housing authority to terminate assistance if proven.

Ask that you receive copies of all reports created by the investigation for your attorney so you can legally terminate the lease for cause (illegal activity), or ask your attorney to subpoena them.

Alternatively, you have cause to terminate for:

damage to unit
unauthorized occupant
late rent (unless you accepted it late with the late fee)

I agree with Mindy that the foil you took from the trash inside their unit is not your property and not properly collected (chain of evidence if it goes to criminal court) and will be inadmissable as evidence. For that reason, I do not recommend dumpster diving for evidence either. Your immediate goal may be only to remove them from the property; but the bigger goal is successful prosecution and incarceration. You may not like your comps much; but I know you do not want this resident to be able to rent from them. A felony conviction for drug use, possession, distribution, or manufacture will cure that if they have controls in place to effectively screen these kinds of issues out.

Some affordable properties are geared towards those with special needs, which can include drug addiction; but a felony drug conviction will probably effectively disqualify their application for housing; I know it did at a property I did a lease up for; an applicant can be a recovering addict, but a felony drug charge was on the list of reasons an applicant could be denied, especially if it was recent and they were still on probation.

Let us know what ends up happening so we can all learn something.

Now everyone has addressed the possible drug thing. I want to address the unit freezing up and here are what I find are the four most common causes:

The first and most common is dirt. A dirty filter or evaporator coil will restrict airflow which lowers evaporator coil temperature (Near furnace inside). A dirty blower wheel will not move enough air either.

Second is low refrigerant.

Third is the least common and most expensive to find and repair. A restriction in the refrigerant system. If you have a restricted metering device in the evaporator coil or anywhere else in the system it will cause a temperature drop across the restriction. How much of a drop depends on how bad the restriction is.

Fourth is a bad contactor on your outside unit that is not allowing it to turn off when the furnace turns off.

So, be sure to have your maintenance personnel look into those areas as they may be the reason for the freezing up as well. Door being left open is the easy answer, but may not be the problem.

I would of filed a "Notice To Quit". Do you have a close relationship with your local PD? If so, in many states, if someone is on probation (most likely these type of tenants are) they can enter the apt without a warrant or any justifiable cause and can take it from there. Does your state allow a "criminal eviction"?

It's important to remember that finding drug paraphenalia is not the same as finding someone shooting up. Yes, it may be illegal to have illegal drug use going on in the unit, but at this stage of the game you cannot and should not assume anything. There may be signs of drug activity but you have not proven anything and, in my opinion, there is not enough evidence to give a 3-Day notice to evict. This is why it is vital to connect with law enforcement and get their further direction. Oftentimes, an Officer can accompany a Manager at some random time and "catch" what is going on in the unit. Trust me on this one. Drug users can be stupid enough to leave their bags out in plain sight - even on a window sill! for all the world to see, which will absolutely produce probable cause for entry.

Secondly, Sandy, you can send a letter to the Resident about the fact that you suspect someone is living with the Resident: mattress on the floor in second bedroom, etc. But this would not be a 3-Day Notice, rather a 10-Day or whatever your state allows. Then it is of course up to the Resident to decide what to do: come in and talk to you about it or kick the person out. I suspect the guy is her supplier ... as everyone else here does, so please tread cautiously on this one.

Drug dealing from a unit is again, different from drug usage. Many Dealers know the game and are absolutely great about paying rent on time and behaving so that there is no suspicion drawn to them. (If they are smart.) If they are dumb, careless, or arrogant, or if they feel they can't be touched, especially if they are safely ensconced in a nice community where the nice Manager is vulnerable to believing their "story," they will hunker down for the long haul.

One last note and then I will get out of this conversation today, I would also be very careful about going back into a unit where Maintenance has compelted the assigned work order request. I mean, Maintenance received the WO for a non-working A/C unit, attends to it, gets it working again, but notices what he/they consider drug items, they should CALL you to come over while still working. Once they complete the work order and leave, there is now no reason for you to enter the unit. If they still have work to do later and need to go back, then the work order is still active, and you could go back with them. All residents have the expectation that entry rules are respected. If the Resident is home, you can always go over and knock asking permission to enter. This is what I have done (and usually my Drug Task Force Officer is waiting at the bottom of the stairs while I knock and ask permission to enter ... such fun when they let me in then.

The problem with Maureen's response is the fact that in order to have a probation officer enter on a suspicion of illegal activity; you may need to release personal information which may be against company policy.

If you can get the involvement of law enforcement without releasing this information; then go ahead; but the resources of many law enforcement groups may be limited.

I've encountered a lot of marijuana smokers in my day and I too give it no thought really unless a neighbor is constantly complaining. I feel like everywhere I have worked I've gotten a whiff of it. I'm sure there were other drugs being done as well, but Marijuana is always prevelant. However when I worked at the University it was zero-tolerance and I had a lot of evictions from marijuana. However, if paraphernalia was found they'd get a fine and have to surrender it. That was pipes, hookahs, bongs, to include an array other things like swords, nun chucks, and blow torches. When I'm in doubt It will all depend on the law and their lease. You just can't be sure when you see bits and pieces of circumstantial stuff that can be used to do drugs. You can actually smoke pills off of foil, pills he or she may be prescribed. Is that the propery way to use your meds no, but that's a whole other sketchy part of the law. With drugs, for me to get involved I must have serious evidence. If I have to call non- emergency bc of a smell I will, haven't had to, but then again my experience with drugs have been with college kids...most of them were baked on a daily basis :unsure:

Here is how I see this:

As property managers, we should not be expected to be experts in illegal activity; any knowledge should be purely coincidental from prior experience. We should seek independent, third party verifications of our suspicions in order to avoid appearing like we are singling anyone out. We should also be able to document the findings for any potential legal action.

So, what happened with this; Sandy???

OXYCONTIN!!

The report came back and it is this drug. They called again today to say their A/C is not cooling again. Maintenance is there now checking it out.

As soon as they pay their September rent, which I expect Friday, I am going to call them and ask for a meeting where I am going to make them an offer to vacate in 14 days or be evicted.

Narcotics is supposed to start a watch on the apartment next week.

Will fill you guys in later on what I offered and if they take it.

This drug is popular in our area.

It is my understanding that even having this drug outside a hospital setting (transport excluded) is illegal. I do, however, reserve the right to be wrong. Sandy did not say if she knew if anyone in the household had a legitimate perscription for it neither. If there was no perscription, it's possession was inherently illegal. I somehow get the feeling that the resident did not have a legitimate reason to have the drug.

Does your lease contain a crime and drug free clause or addendum?

Here in Oregon, Oxycontin is dispensed with a prescription for home use. Recreational users crush the tablets and smoke or inject them for a bigger high.

Fortunately we have local monthly landlord forums where the Police and other agencies present this kind of info so we know what to look out for.

Oxycontin is one of the most prescribed medications for chronic pain in America. There are millions of Americans taking this medication at home.

I don't know what State or locality this issue took place however, I don't think that where ever this happened or whatever you found on a piece of foil in a garbage can can be used as evidence in an eviction or any criminal case for that matter.

I like to cheat, and often at that. As anyone familiar with my posts will tell you, I like to circumvent the system at every chance.

I was stationed in Germany for a bit in the army. I attended a "shake and bake" Drug Enforcement NCO course. It was about four hours of training. Now, the army has the ability to write you up a diploma that looks like a PhD if all you did was drive a nail in the wall. I received a framed diploma stating I was a trained Drug Enforcement NCO (in all bold, gold letters). Can you say "Worthless"?) So the wife, after we got into property management, when she leased, would show that diploma to new tenants and tell them of the many advantages of me being a Drug Enforcement expert. How we were totally trained to protect them! We even had a couple that backed out of the lease once wife showed this thing to them at lease up. (All of sudden too far from their job--ha). She would say I even had access to a drug dog who occasionally patrolled the grounds and parking lot. Lies, yes, the whole of it, but we VERY seldom had any drug problems at all. (My police friend did have a dog though).

Yes, in the games of we vs they, a little cheating comes in handy. (especially when THEY think they are so sly, and thinking WE don't know the score.)

I was in a nuclear unit and we had regular and random drug screenings; and I am glad to be able to say that our biggest problem was guys using steroids.....

I like those ideas Herb. It's not really "lying" but just embellishing a little. I am a horrible liar, but I went to the "Citizen's Academy" at the Sheriff's department a few years ago, and I keep my diploma on the wall behind my desk so all my applicants see it. They even gave us a little Police badge!

It was a very intensive class. Four hours one night a week for 12 weeks plus four all-day Saturday classes. We had to go to jail, ride in a police car, tour the 911 call center, face the police dog, and hear presentations from every department of the Sheriff's office. Most Police agencies offer this training, and it's free.

Herb,

You and I think alike! When I took over a drug infested property a few years ago, I told a few "select" residents that my husband worked for SLED and we had a drug dog. I can't remember the name I made up for him.

I've always used psychology when managing residents.

I dropped the "bomb" on one of the two residents today. I made them an offer to either move in 14 days or go through the eviction process. I told them we had evidence of illegal drug activity in the apartment and not to even try to pretend she didn't know what I was talking about. I said "WE KNOW!"

I showed her a photo I printed from the Internet of burned foil from smoking oxycontin that looked just like the one I saw in their apartment. I know she was wondering how I got that!!!

I didn't tell her how we knew and she was so stunned she didn't ask.

The offer we made was really good. We just want them out as quickly as possible before a drug bust or someone overdoses.

A resident that watches things for me said there was a Mercedes, BMW and a Lexus at the apartment last evening. My property is so small, I know everyone knows what is going on there. My resident's vehicles aren't bad but not that nice!!

They have until Thursday to let me know if they will take "Door #1 or Door #2."

Sandy, Good Move!

"Here is our best and only offer". I love it!