Nasty Tenants Grow Cannabis in the loft of my lovely family home

IamWood

I changed jobs and rented out my lovely family home to a "NICE" Japanese family (if that was what they claimed on their passport) last May. The house was in a very expensive and popular area of the town. Due to COVID, I only inspected the house once last October. Two weeks ago I went to check if there was anything needed to do before winter arrives. Everything seems reasonable downstairs. However, I spotted patches of water in the bathroom going down into the downstairs kitchen. The ceiling is warped. My first impression is that it could be a water leakage and I asked the tenants how could this happen. He claimed he hadn't noticed it and agreed to pay for the repair fairly quickly. The water patch reminded me that I may also need to inspect the attic areas if there is condensation there.

Surprised, the entrance door to the loft is screwed closed. I wonder why and used my screwdriver to open it. What a shock those 'NICE' tenants were growing cannabis in the attic. The loft is filled with extensions and tubes. I watched a similar scene only on youtube but not in real life in my own house. The tenants acted quickly and ran away when I claimed the loft and never came back.

I called the police. The police came and ransacked my house during the operations. Now soils are everywhere. The police promised to clean the loft and they obviously didn't. They simply cut the plants, took some equipment, and made a mess.

I called my landlord's insurance for the malicious damage and water damage to the kitchen ceiling. My insurance told me not to touch anything unless someone assessed the damage.

My dear forum, I'm still in shock mode. How can people do such a thing? I was nice to them and even tried to lower their rent if they had a problem paying during COVID. How naive I am!

I don't think they'll be coming back (implied surrender?) And I've changed all the locks on the property. If they do come back, I'll send them a big bill.

so far I have done:

1) contacting my landlord's insurance and waiting for their damage assessment.
2) contact the energy supplier to stop theirs accounts. Electricity usage was only 5000kW for 16 months (they didn't tamper the electricity according to the electrician. This seems low to run a cannabis farm?)
3) contact my council to move the council tax account under my name

Unfortunately, both the energy supplier and council won't pass any information about my tenants to me, claiming data protection. I don't think the Police have the will to catch them either.

For anyone who unfortunately had a similar experience, can you advise if there is anything else I can do in the meantime?

Do remember to check the loft during inspection!

Exodi

IamWood said:

so far I have done:

1) contacting my landlord's insurance and waiting for their damage assessment.
2) contact the energy supplier to stop theirs accounts. Electricity usage was only 5000kW for 16 months (they didn't tamper the electricity according to the electrician. This seems low to run a cannabis farm?)
3) contact my council to move the council tax account under my name

Unfortunately, both the energy supplier and council won't pass any information about my tenants to me, claiming data protection. I don't think the Police have the will to catch them either.

For anyone who unfortunately had a similar experience, can you advise if there is anything else I can do in the meantime?

Do remember to check the loft during inspection!

If you're claiming the damages on your insurance and have updated the utility accounts with the correct details, could I ask what you intend to pursue the tenants for? Can you quantify your losses outside of 'inconvenience' (otherwise, what is the point of chasing them down)?

I think you've done all the right things (getting the police involved, then opening an insurance claim) but there is no need for you to go vigilante if the police decide not to pursue them further.

Assuming the insurance play ball, you should hopefully not be out of pocket.

Unfortunately, there is no guarantees that all tenants will be star candidates - it's part of the risk of being a landlord (and the reason many, including myself, would never rent out a property).

IamWood

This is the first time I have involved the police in my life and I trusted them when they said they would clean it all up. They did not obviously. I'll learn my lessons from this experience.

I don't think those nasty tenants will come back. However, I did drop a letter at the property with a notice of terminating the tenancy agreement immediately. The police asked me to contact them straightaway if they ever want to contact me. I was advised not to contact them either.

From my observations, they dug two big holes in the chimney wall and put two big tubes through them. They also put aluminum foil all over the loft. I see from my garden that some tiles are not in their places. I pray the roof and loft don't need major repairs.

Shocked and outrageous!

DE_612183

Have you spoken with the Police about the state they left the attic in?
If they don't sort out - you can complain - there is an independent body. 

PM22

Why would the police clean up...that's not what the police are there for 

theartfullodger

What were the credit checks and previous landlord references like for those tenants you chose, please?

Were they paying monthly or was there 6 or 12 months rent up front please?

Good luck, not a good experience.

IamWood

theartfullodger said:

What were the credit checks and previous landlord references like for those tenants you chose, please?

Were they paying monthly or was there 6 or 12 months rent up front please?

Good luck, not a good experience.

Everything is carried out with my best efforts.  They sent me their passport copies, previous landlord contact, 3 months' payslips. bank statements, and employment references (one of the companies is now bankrupted).  I passed all those information to the Police.

I wonder if they are well-organized gang and all are made up and I don't have the energy to reverify them again. 

They are so nicely presented and even on the day they over-witted me with their polite gestures.

I was paid monthly through bank transfer.

I seriously consider take the house back and never let it out again. I won't sell it as it's very nice area, we like the town and plan to retire there.

sheramber

Anybody can be caught out.

Where I used to live a policeman found his tenants had  a cannabis farm in the house he rented to them.

Ath_Wat

Were they a Japanese family?

Gavin83

I’m gobsmacked they let you inspect if they were growing cannabis. Would have been far easier for them to refuse entry.

Ultimately if they do come back you could be in trouble as at the moment you’ve illegally evicted them. Hopefully they won’t.

I get it’s a horrible situation to be in but this is one of the risks of renting and there’s really nothing you can do to avoid it. You can’t tell if someone is a criminal or not just by looking at them.

thegreenone

They probably thought @IamWood wouldn't bother looking in the loft or even noticing they had screwed it shut.  I'm not sure the OP illegally evited them - they ran away!

Would your bank give the police information on where the bank transfers were coming from?

I don't imagine they will be back for their stuff but perhaps store it securely and take the money from the secured deposit.  When you have deducted repairs from the deposit and the money runs out.  Ditch it all.