A new bill has been issued that put a ban on the use of medical marijuana in all rental units. No tenant is permitted to consume this drug – however – exemptions from this law include creams and pills that contain the drug.
The passage of the bill addresses quite a few concerns which property managers have had in the past. The use of this drug causes a really bad odor in the home. A landlord told us that he once had a tenant who used to smoke marijuana. When the landlord asked him to put a stop to it because the smell was becoming unbearable, the tenant showed his medical card. At that time, the landlord could not take any action against the tenant until the lease was over. Because of this, the unit had suffered extensive damage, and repairs turned out to be quite costly for the landlord. The ducts had to be cleaned; the smell had to be eliminated, and all of this took over two months; quite a significant amount of time, especially when you realize that no rents were collected for two months. The smell is not the only problem; landlords have also had to face more serious issues such as water damage and in some cases fires.
Throughout the country, there are many landlords who are against pot use, and so many similar bills in a number of states have been enforced.
With this law, those tenants who use medical marijuana will not be allowed to anymore without repercussions. This might be the time to consider buying a home if they can afford one. However, even with this, they will have to choose a neighborhood carefully because there are some areas where homeowners cannot use marijuana at all or can do so in limited amounts.
The above situation is really favorable to the landlord, but what about the tenant? What is their take on this? A renter told us the bill is not at all a great idea. She was against the idea of a complete ban, but she also said that she will not mind paying an increased security deposit if a landlord feared damage.
A reputed law firm also regards the bill as discriminatory and stated that it offered no favors to the less fortunate and the sick.
Source: www.realestate.aol.com
