State Specific Question About: OREGON (OR)

I have a couple of tenants that don't get along well. My complex is "non-smoking". Tenant A on the ground floor is a single mother of 3 kids, she is somewhat belligerent with anybody that looks at her funny. Tenant B lives above tenant A, B complains almost daily about pot smell. cigarette smell and the large group of kids that are in and out of A's apartment. I don't have any "proof" that A is smoking anything except a couple of maintenance guys have smelled pot walking past A's unit. I have spoken with A several times and she always denies anything is being smoked in her unit.

B is very unhappy because she moved here because it is a non-smoking complex.

I spoke with counsel and was told I don't have enough proof to evict A. I am going nuts with the complaining.

I have never had this sort of anger between tenants before, any advice would be helpful.

Tenant A probably isn't smoking pot. Her kids or their guests are.

Enlist Tenant B's help. Everyone has a phone, iPad, etc. with a camera in it these days. If not, buy them one of those cheapie throw away cameras. Take pics of people coming in and out. Have your workers get inside to change a furnace filter or some other maint task. Ask them to look for signs of smoking: ash trays, ashes on table, etc.

I had a similar situation years ago. I had a tenant who smoked outside. A lot. Building was non-smoking. The tenants above her hated the smoke. HATED it. Oh my...

Stop it. You do have enough proof.

Of course she denies it, its illegal!

Tell B you are working on getting her out, tell A that you are expecting changes or she is in violation of the lease and you will file.

Have the upstairs tenant tell you when he or she smells smoke via phone and go over immediately and knock on the door downstairs and take a witness with you. Pretend you are dropping off a notice of something or other that has nothing to do with the issue and make sure other tenants get it also. It could be about lawncare or anything else.

When you and your witness have smelled the offending smoke you can then give her an eviction notice and make sure you say that there is a witness and you will proceed with eviction if she does not move out right away. Remind her that eviction will not help her chances of getting a good place to live in the future.

Is Tenant A on a lease? If not, give her a 30-day notice to vacate.

Thanks for the answers.

I have advised B to take pictures, A only smokes inside and B is afraid of taking pictures through the window.

So, she is smoking inside (no difference what she is smoking) and this is against your lease?

Steve...

Oregon is a no cause notice state..

If you want A gone, have your atty.. give a no cause..

Is the building no smoking? Again Oregon has statutes for that as well as MJ.. rules... that can forbid smoking it..

(Quick note: pot is legal for adults in Oregon)

Steve,

Time to put on your manager hat and go manage.

-this is a reasonable request, no matter how crazy the res.

-Does the lease clearly state NO SMOKING?

-Does it state WHERE, such as indoors, within 10 feet of the building, etc?

-go visit. Sniff. Put eyes and nose on the apt.

-write a "cease" letter to the offending res and deliver it immediately. Include that the next complaint about smoking will trigger eviction.

-if you promised a non-smoking building but allow smoking, the judge will probably rule in your res' favor.

-Tell us what develops!

-Brad