I have a duplex in L.A. city (rent control) and have been told that one of the tenants might be using drugs on the property. Now I have not seen or smelled any evidence. What steps would you all take/or have taken if this has happened to any of you? I've left a message to the local narcotics dept. (LAPD) and left a message. Waiting for their call back.

Thank you in advance for any/all info/advise.

HAHA David ... I'm waiting too!

so Dillo - while we wait - who told you about this? If you haven't seen anything (and by that I also mean activity of selling/dealing) depending on WHO or HOW you have learned of this you may want to "drop by" when you know the tenant is there and knock on their door.

Go with a decent excuse to talk to them face to face though (like "have you been experiencing any water pressure problems or discoloration" or something that you don't need to have anything with you at that time). The reason for that is so you can just say "I've been talking with some neighbors and they wondered if we have been or if it's just their property"). You want to see their face - are their eyes dilated? What kind of drugs are we talking about? You may want to find out some signs to "look for" on those specific drugs if you don't know - that way you can "see for yourself".

Be careful ... don't approach them about drugs or anything if that's what you think is happening once you are there. If they are acting a little weird or "off" you can ask them if they are alright ...

What kind of drugs? Also who told you about this? I wonder if it could be someone who doesn't like the tenant making something up to get revenge.

Yes, possibly snoopy other tenant doesn't like this one. You should not have called the police. You are not telling us what the reporting tenant said. Was it very descriptive and detailed? Was it believable? Obviously you acted on that.

When Mom was still the owner, we received a note from a departing tenant that the young man across the hall was either selling or using drugs bigtime. We went to the empty to look around and saw some very unsavory types in the hallway.

So we reported the guy based on the note from the departing tenant and what we saw in the hall.

Cops came to the house and told us that they had some reports also and they would go in. We gave them a key and they did a raid. Tenant was no longer in the apt. and someone removed his furniture. His parents were in the neighborhood and very decent looking.

DilloMB,

Unless he's causing a problem I don't care.

Half the world is doing drugs. It's his home and he can fritter away his brain cells how ever he wants - as long as he's not bothering anyone or hurting my property.

My job is to keep the rent flowing in.

If we REALLY knew what our residents do in our rentals we could not sleep at night!

"Burden of proof"? A: hearsay! NEXT. Be careful here.

Once I called the Police when a huge drugs deal went down. Several big SUVs, gangsters guarding access to my multi. Got chewed over for the call. Wouldn't want to respond at all!

I had dealers in front of my personal home every day for years. They would park in a shady spot and someone would eventually pass by and give them something. Or they would call somewhere and then leave and go in a certain direction.

One day I happened to walk out there with garbage cans and one of the people in the car asked the other if they should shoot me. Fortunately the driver said no.

This is the danger for you and your tenants. There was a shooting down the end of my street two months ago where I used to own the two four plexes.

Eventually I saw all the faces of those people on the front of the newspaper. They were all dealing from a complex about two blocks away but over the border into the next town. So if cops came they could flee from my house back into the city.

I took license plate numbers for years and made contact with a detective and would give them to him. One time a very respectable looking older couple showed up and transferred a big bag of something into the trunk of one of the most frequent visitors who was always nodding his head and almost sleeping when he was parked there.

I gave up on the despatchers at the police dept. because they would run the plate and then not send a car. I suspect they knew some of the folks in those drug related cars.

newest drug selling "location" indicator in my area ... round circle with a dot in the center spray painted on a building. stand there and wait ... someone will approach you and if you're okay they'll take your order. They go get the drugs and return with them. The location has nothing to do with the tenants or the property owner. Property owner is proactive and removes the circle ... it's back the next day.

Now ... since little old me knows this, why don't the police ... or more importantly, why don't they do anything about it? I know, it takes a while to gather evidence and build a case. Here, the police are SEVERELY underfunded ... offense rather than defense seems to me to be the way they should address this but with no money, can't be done ... and the drug guys (and gals) know it.

Have a guy living behind one of our recent acquisitions, apparently both he and his wife deal - people all hours of the day and night, never go inside etc.

According to a neighbor, who WORKS FOR THE SHERIFF'S DEPARTMENT, the guy is acting as a narc for them, since he was arrested trying to sell a gun (he's a convicted felon.) So in order to avoid jail, he is turning in others - so they won't arrest him. Isn't that great?