LANDLORD TO SUE GROW-OP TENANT

A landlord is planning to sue his former tenant to recoup the $10,000 cost
of repairing his East Side house after it was used for a marijuana grow
operation.

Bill Maurer's decision to take civil action against his tenant is
relatively uncharted territory for landlords who unknowingly rent their
houses to marijuana growers, but Maurer believes it's his only option.

"I'm the victim of a crime here," said Maurer, whose house in the
1900-block of Charles Street was busted by police in June. Although 300
marijuana plants were discovered, police decided not to pursue charges.

"I pay taxes and I deserve better than this. If the police don't want to
charge anybody, then they should just stay away."

The grow operation left Maurer's two-level stucco bungalow in shambles and
forced him to renovate his bathroom and other parts of the house to make it
livable. He also removed several hundred bags of dirt, pots and other
growing equipment.

Police didn't find anybody inside when they executed a search warrant June
26, limiting their ability to pursue a charge, said Sgt. Rollie Woods of
the Vancouver police's drug squad.

Unless someone is caught in the house or confesses to being the grower,
police don't pursue charges, said Woods, noting even a landlord-tenant
agreement confirming the tenant's name and personal information is not
enough to make a charge stick. "I know landlords get frustrated, but we
haven't had much luck in the courts." Some cases are dropped, while others
result in small fines or probationary sentences instead of jail time.

Eighty per cent of the more than 1,000 grow-ops busted by police since last
summer were run by tenants of rental houses. So far this year, police have
shut down more than 200 grow-ops, with a charge rate of 10 to 15 per cent.

Neither Woods nor Carlene Robbins, city hall's manager of the bylaw
administration branch, knew of a case where a landlord has taken civil
action against a tenant. But Woods said that police, if needed, would
appear as witnesses to confirm that a grow-op existed in Maurer's house.

Robbins, whose department works with police to shut down grow-ops, said
most tenants associated with grow-ops disappear after a police raid,
although a handful have surfaced and agreed to pay for repairs.

Maurer said he has spoken to his former tenant's sister about the mess left
behind but has yet to hear from the tenant, whom he believes is likely
growing marijuana in another house in the city.

Maurer rented the house to the tenant three years ago for $1,275 a month.
The tenant paid with post-dated cheques and seemed like an "easy-going,
hardworking guy," who told Maurer he planned to move two families into the
house.

Maurer isn't sure anybody was living in the house-he suspects the tenant
only visited to maintain the plants. Maurer said he had no reason to visit
the house himself because his former tenant never called to have anything
repaired.

He admits that may have been a mistake, and now plans to include a clause
about regular inspections in future rental agreements, something he wasn't
aware he could do.

One thing he doesn't want is for his rental house to become one of the many
in the city busted twice for grow-ops-140 since last summer.

"If it happens again-that somebody else sets up a grow-op-then I told the
cops they can come and shoot me."