Green Thumbs and Bad Attitudes!

Indoor marijuana growing wreaks havoc on North Coast rentals

Over the last two decades indoor marijuana growing has literally moved out of the closet and into every room of the house.

That's fine, perhaps, for home owners who grow -- the risk and damage is all on them. But rental homes and apartments are another story.
â?�I'm sick and tired of it, it's damaging,â?� said Cathy MacMullin of American Property Management in McKinleyville.

MacMullin's office manages 500 to 600 properties between Eureka and Trinidad and she estimated close to 50 percent probably have marijuana growing in them.

For nearly 20 years, MacMullin has dealt with tenants and marijuana grows. She said it used to be a couple of plants in a closet with a light clipped to the wall.

â?�Now it's common to find sophisticated growing operations all over a lot of the houses,â?� MacMullin said. â??Every room of the house is dedicated to a different stage of the growing process. They just lived in the living room.â?�
It's not just MacMullin, either. About a dozen property management offices were contacted for the story and none wanted to go on the record. But most did say, after requesting anonymity, that it's an epidemic in Humboldt County. Not one office said it wasn't a problem.

Screwing lighting fasteners to the ceiling, drilling drainage holes into the floor, tampering with sockets and wiring and the stockpiling of marijuana byproducts all around the house are just the beginning of the list of problems and damages MacMullin finds with grows.

MacMullin said that, after all this time walking through hundreds of residences, she can spot signs even when the tenant does a good job cleaning up and returning power and water lines to the way they were when they moved in. Anything from a few screw marks in the ceiling to a slight discoloration on the walls -- she knows the signs of cultivation.
â?�This (marijuana growing) is one of the reasons I got out of the (property management) business,â?� said Sally Austin, who owned A 1 Property Management in Arcata. â??I just didn't want to deal with it anymore.â?�
She said threats of lawsuits from property owners and tenants were constant.


â?�It's absolutely not fair because we can't be there 24/7,â?� Austin said.
MacMullin said she's had bills to repair damage and clean up residences at $5,000 and $6,000. Austin quoted one bill for repairs and cleanup at $7,000.
â?�And the deposits go up and up,â?� Austin said.

Recently, MacMullin had a weekend when she walked through about a dozen residences and didn't see any signs of growing, which surprised her.
â?�You know what's shocking is when you find a clean rental and they're not growing in it,â?� Austin said.

MacMullin is up front with tenants when she discovers they're growing.
Sometimes she gets looks of defiance and arogance.

â?�They have some bad attitudes sometimes,â?� MacMullin said.
After frank discussions with the tenant, it's usually an offer of get rid of it all or get out.
And sometimes, the tenant is just the one with the keys.
Some people approach renters when they're moving in and offer to include them as partners in a grow. The people have all the know-how and equipment, the tenants just supply the room.

But it doesn't always work out that way.
MacMullin said she had two tenants who were lured into a deal like that and when it came time for everyone to get their cut, the growers were gone -- leaving the tenants with a $5,000 repair bill.

Both Austin and MacMullin said cultivation became a real problem about the time Proposition 215 allowed people who have recommendations from doctors to grow plants.
MacMullin honors the 215 card, but says that's not permission to do whatever they please as far as growing.

â?�I tell them right up front that they cannot alter the property,â?� MacMullin said.

Altering the property can include something major, like cutting holes in the floor, to something minor, like changing the door knobs to a bedroom.
MacMullin said every time she's dealt with a 215 patient she believed they were legitimate.

â?�I have never dealt with someone who has abused the law,â?� MacMullin said.
When Austin would find a tenant who was growing, she'd give them a 30-day notice.
â?�You don't have to give a reason for a 30-day,â?� Austin said. â??But if they had a (215) card they'd wave it in your face.â?� Chris Copple, general manager of Restif Cleaning Service, said it can cost up to $300 to clean one room where marijuana was being grown. And sometimes the cleaning crew is right on the heels of the tenants moving their marijuana and growing equipment out.

â?�This cleaning crew showed up and they (the tenants) still had all the pot in the garage,â?� Copple said. â??We were bringing this cleaning equipment in the front door and they were throwing marijuana in their truck out the back door.â?�

One former marijuana grower, who did not want to be named, said the whole thing would be a non-issue if growers had respect.

â?�If people do it (cultivate marijuana) they should have respect for other people's property and fix what they damage and clean up after themselves,â?� the former grower said. â??Just like anything in life, respect other people's property.â?�



so in retrospect people, if your gonna grow, do it legal, and dont thrash your landlords property. Or build your own house, buy a house, a barn, whatever
I even know of grows that are in large storage containers like you see on ships and rail cars that are buried.


just be smart.. and get your 215!

Nice read.. thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

Thats right. Marijuana needs to be grown out of control like this every where in the U.S. until the Govt has no choice but to legalize it. Keep growing and spreading the love of ganja :rasta:.

how much can u grow with a 215

and how much is an oz of legit grade a ganj

very intrestin

I think the people should take responsibility for the repair and cleanup, BUt I don't think they should be stopped from growing. Privacy is our friend.

yes,,,grow forward...

[quote=Humboldt215]...whatever
I even know of grows that are in large storage containers like you see on ships and rail cars that are buried....


QUOTE]

yea... ive seen that to... but the person also went to jail

i dont think there is a limit to how much you can grow with a card... my buddy grows in bakers field and he has 10 outdoor plants and like 6 diffrent grow boxes throughout his house..

nice article :cool: they make it seem like cleaning up after a grow costs thousand of dollars every time. wtf. just seems like thats not that typical scenario

whats a 215 i have never heard of it.:confused:
is this it

Proposition 215 was designed to protect seriously and terminally ill patients from criminal penalties for using marijuana medically. Only people with their doctor's recommendation to use marijuana in medical treatment can take advantage of Prop. 215 as a legal defense against marijuana charges. .:D

i assumed a 215 is a medical card...

215, is a propositiong to legalize medical marijuana in california, witch passed, many of my freinds have buyer/growing cards.