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I'm not posting this here to start a debate for or against pot smoking in certain areas, carrying certain quantities, etc. I'm doing this because I'm in the middle of a pretty difficult living situation and need advice how best to resolve it. (I'm reposting this from the Boston forum.)
In September '15 I signed a lease with two roommates (male and female) in Boston who'd been living in the unit for at least a year before I arrived. We seemed to hit it off; they both worked full time and seemed upstanding young adults. (All of us in our 20s, early 30s.) The lease states no smoking in the unit. Shortly after I moved in, I noticed the male roommate smoking in the open in a common area with a buddy. A large bong was on the table. They'd clearly been doing this regularly.
Surprised, I asked him to stop but he said he wouldn't and that it wasn't my place to move in and disrupt something he'd been doing for some time. I then notified the landlord, who said he'd talk to the tenant, but that he can't make people stop smoking in the apartment. Fair enough. I was very anxious about moving out so soon and going through hell trying to find a replacement only days after moving in, so I gave in and agreed to him continuing to smoke as long as he did it in his room and took steps to minimize the odor.
Needless to say, his efforts were minimal at best and the apartment frequently stank. I'm not talking about a little whiff here and there. The odor hung in the air for hours and got into my room, where it stuck around for quite a while. The female roommate said it's an issue between him and me and she's not getting involved.
Fast forward to November where suddenly the smell gets way stronger and, at this point, it's starting to affect my quiet enjoyment. I'm getting stressed out at work, I dread coming home, and I'm losing my patience with this arrangement. I confront him and tell him he's in the wrong and that he can't overwhelm the entire apartment with his smoke. He says he can't do anything about it. I complain to the landlord, who demands that he stop, but he tells me that he cannot police it and cannot do anything about it if he doesn't see evidence, as it's my word against his.
I want to get out of this lease but the landlord is telling me I'm responsible for finding someone to replace me and for the rent. Is that fully true? Given the fact that the roommate has made things intolerable, do I have any legal options?
It is illegal according to the lease. I would want calling the police to be the last option. I don't know if there's some legal relief I can seek outside of that. If I had to do it, I'd consider it. Not comfortable with the idea.
Is the Lease Month to Month? IF it is give them 30 days written notice & move. IF longer What does the lease say about early termination? Your job may depend on you getting out! Being in the same house [or car] Can give you a contact high! IF your job does Drug testing You can be fired!
"The lease states no smoking in the unit" If it were me, I would ask the LL in a certified letter to put a stop to the tenant smoking in the apartment.....I would make reference in the letter to your numerous attempts to get LL to handle this lease infraction.....list dates/times etc. Then at the end of the letter give notice, and site why you will be unable to provide another tenant...because of the ongoing smoking infraction...and you will not be party to the duplicity that you have been victimized by.
Then I'd move...get as much in writing as possible before sending this letter. Save multiple copies...
i'm going through the same thing and more. The ll i haven't seen since June 2015 and she lives a few minutes away. She stays away so she's not held liable . That i found out on here. You're ll is probably trying to not do what she's supposed to be doing as a ll.. her job and her end of the lease ( her obligations). So moving is most likely the best option. See if you can get out w/ out penalty and/or follow the rules of having to break the lease. My lease also says no smoking, she also has supposedly spoken with these people.. weed smoke still persists among other things. Calling the police would probably cause retaliation
It's not clear if it's the lease between the OP and the roommates that prohibits smoking, or the lease between the roommates and the building owner/landlord, whatever.
If the latter, why would the LL say there's nothing he can do about it? If the former, wouldn't the OP have grounds to break the lease?
Moral of the story, if it's important to you, investigate the smoking and drug habits of potential roommates and have it clearly stated in the lease.
Have you called the police (if its illegal where you live?)?
In my opinion this would only make things worse. The police won't haul this guy away and judges won't sentence him to the remainder of the lease in prison. Even if the guy gets arrested a judge isn't going to hold him without bail. People arrested for violent crimes get released on no or cheap bail everyday, a guy smoking weed at home won't get taken seriously. The pot smoker will be released in about 24 hours and come home to his apartment. Just very angry this time around. A few months later he might go to court and might get community service. None of this helps the OP in the mean time.
Realistically the police will issue a fine, summons or warning, leaving the stoned guy at home with the guy that called the police on him. Sounds like the OP has it tough enough without that aspect added in too!
If the latter, why would the LL say there's nothing he can do about it?
I'm assuming the landlord puts in the non smoking clause, but isn't really concerned with it. Excluding smoking is a tool to recapture the deposit at the end of a smoker's lease.
Eviction is a very difficult and costly endeavour leaving you without a paying tenant. What's the benefit for the landlord to go through the process? If Ol' Smokey has a deposit that covers smoke damage and pays the rent every month why get rid of him? Kicking him out opens the landlord to the risk of finding a worse tenant.
The landlord is probably relieved it's only pot smoke in a 3 roomate situation. I'm sure he's had far worse in the past...
OK, here is what you do if marijuana is illegal where you are living. You pay a lawyer to write a letter stating that you will not stay in the apartment due to ongoing illegal activity. You lawyer informs the landlord that your lease is being terminated.
You still should give a 30 day notice, and this won't work in a state where marijuana is legal.
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