You know how sometimes you go along all day just fat, dumb and happy and then the funniest and stupidest thing in the world happens? Today was the that day. I have an owner of a rental property that is wanting to sell it so before setting a price on it, he wanted me to go look on the inside and see what kind of shape it is in and what deferred maintenance there might be. So I made an appointment with the tenants for 2:00 this afternoon and I got that right on time. The man of the house let me in and was very friendly. I explained to him what was going on and assured him that nothing concerning the sell of the house would affect his lease in any way--I was just trying to get a feel for what the house should be priced at when put up for sell. He was super cooperative and took me room by room through the house pointing out things he had noticed might need to be done to it and we were chatting as we went and I was snapping pictures of problem areas. We went upstairs to a landing that they had made into their media room and also upstairs were a couple of bedrooms and a bath. When I got up there, I felt I could smell cigarette smoke and we have a no-smoking policy for all our rentals that we manage. So here's how the conversation went:
Me: I seem to smell smoke up here--ya'll are not allowed to smoke in the house.
Him: Oh, we don't smoke cigarettes at all.
Me: OK, just seemed I could smell it and I know the previous tenants didn't smoke at all either.
(At this point we are still walking around and the smell is really pretty strong)
Me: I can really smell smoke--if it isn't cigarette smoke, what in the world is it.
Him: Oh, that's marijuana smoke--that's all we smoke in the house.
Me: (Gasp) What?! That is an illegal drug and is absolutely not allowed on the property--in fact it is a breach of your lease and you can be evicted.
Him: Well, it's not really illegal.
Me: Yes, it most definitely is illegal in the state of Texas. You must be thinking of Colorado or California!
Him: But nobody really thinks of it as illegal. I understand cigarette smoke makes your walls and stuff yellow but marijuana smoke is clear and won't mess things up.
Me: You don't seem to understand: you are doing an illegal activity in this home which is grounds for eviction--and perhaps jail time if the authorities decide so.
Him: But the lease just says no smoking allowed (obviously different from a toke on marijuana--a term that is most likely outdated since the 70s when I was in college!)
Me: Any kind of smoke--cigarette, cigars, vapes, and certainly marijuana. You understand that now that I know this, I will be required to report it and there is a chance you will be evicted.
Him: Well, okay.
I left feeling like I had just been in the twilight zone. But then, maybe the smoke smell was heavy because he had been toking (not "smoking") very recently!
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