i should have had a chain saw with me

[snowstorm]

we went to check on a house we own that we had rented. the guy and his girlfriend went to war with each other. one went to jail. we get there go inside not much damage. but the agreement was just the two of them living there. there are 5 and its a mess. so i walk to the back of the house and there is 200ft of garden hose and 30 empty jugs of plant food. it wasnt hard to pick up the trail. to 8 tubs about 3ft in dia of wacko weed. called the law. of course he wouldnt walk out there. but i had pictures. his replay well there isnt much i can do about it. they might have a permit for it. if only i had a saw with me i could have limbed then put em on the ground 

[danbuendgen]

I had a good idea when I read you subject about a chainsaw, then a rental house, would end in pot plants.... Well, just be thankful that it wasn't a meth lab!

You should be careful! I don't have a clue about Maine rental laws, but in Vermont, a landlord has to give a tenant 24 hour notice before entering the house. It seems like tenants have more rights then the owner of the building... It's very hard to evict bad tenants around here. Good luck...

Typical about the police. When they are needed, they can't do much of anything or don't want too do anything. But they love to harass kids skateboarding downtown... They love to pull you over for a bad tail light. But if you NEED them for something, most the time your on your own. Sad really.

[Ken]

Chop it down and set up a roadside market and the local authorities would probably be pretty quick to act

[killamplanes]

Bought 4 farms in last 10yrs. Each had an old rental house on them. served eviction notice when we got time fired up dozer and trackhoe. problem solved. I don't make a good landlord :D

[DDW_OR]

.... Well, just be thankful that it wasn't a meth lab!

.......It seems like tenants have more rights then the owner of the building... It's very hard to evict bad tenants........

Typical about the police. When they are needed, they can't do much of anything or don't want too do anything. But they love to harass kids skateboarding downtown... They love to pull you over for a bad tail light. But if you NEED them for something, most the time your on your own. Sad really.

Yep, the crooks or bad guys have more protection than the Law Abiders.

the problems snowstorm is having with renters is one of the reasons i do not have any renters.

Here in Oregon i have several neighbors that are growing Wacky Weed. I DO NOT.

I remember as a kid taking veggies from gardens, what is to stop today's kids from taking Wacky Weed?

[florida]

Don't ever enter a rental property unless you have permission from the tenants and for sure don't ever touch their stuff even if it looks like trash. When people like move out we go ahead and get and eviction notice and wait for a deputy before we touch anything. Takes longer but keeps you from having to pay for all their brand new stuff you tossed. I could tell you some horror stories.

[Corley5]

  Don't touch the weed either.  If it's under surveillance with cameras all the law needs is a picture of someone touching it to make the case it's theirs.  That's how it works in Michigan  ;)

[danbuendgen]

Just like I (and lots of others said) be careful with those tenants. You go in there or snoop around, and you will be trespassing on your own property! And leave the plants alone too. It's going to get you, not them, into some trouble. Just serve them a eviction notice and get it over with. May take some time, but better to do I right the first time, and not get your self into trouble!

[WV Sawmiller]

   I'd likely go back with my garden sprayer and spray the plants or maybe just a add the herbicide to their irrigation system and see how much use or sale price changes for wilted weed. (I never said it was the right or legal thing to do.) The advice from the others is likely better but that's just me.

   I have read horror stories where owners could not even evict squatters who had moved into their homes. In some cases shyster realtors "supposedly" rented the place to them. In others they just found an empty house and moved in.

   I have other comments but will try to stay out of the woodshed.

[Woodhauler]

In maine you can grow 6 plants with a medical card. Almost anyone who wants a card can get one. Cops don't care or want to go looking for weed patches now. Come November it will get voted in to be legal in maine anyhow. To each his own. I believe the reason snowstorm went there is because they complained about no water . Well went dry!!  I wonder why?????

[snowstorm]

i gave them 24 hr notice. the water problem was 2 weeks ago. i put a new fill valve in the bathroom. fixed that. we went to see how much they wrecked the place after the big fight. the cop didnt seem to concerned about the plants. said he would like to go get them but his boss said no. he said i could go get them

[DDW_OR]

..............he said i could go get them

first, talk to a lawyer.
get the officer's name and badge # for your records.
i like getting their contact card then writing the date and time on the back.

if/when you "get them" take LOTS of photos before and after.
make sure your camera puts the date & time stamp on the photos

check your area about the legalities of taking Video with audio.
Here in Oregon it is not legal to record a conversation without letting all parties know.
at the beginning of the recording i say "I am recording both audio and video"
I then do not need their permission. 

[danbuendgen]

Talking to a lawyer is important. If in Maine someone with a medical card can legally grow six plants, and you said there were 5 people living there, lets just say they all have legal medical cards, that's 30 plants total! Better keep the plants where they are for now, until you have your ducks in a line.....

[gimpy]

The question is legal or illegal. If it's legal and you do anything to it, you might end up liable for the price of the lost product. That could be thousands of dollars "per plant."

When CA legalize medical cannabis, the highway patrol continued to confiscating it. Stating that if the court so ordered, they'd return it. By the time it could/would be returned, the quality of the cannabis was worthless. So departments started having to pay for each gram, instead of the return of what they took.

Just saying, get informed before you act.

[gimpy]

..............he said i could go get them

check your area about the legalities of taking Video with audio.
Here in Oregon it is not legal to record a conversation without letting all parties know.
at the beginning of the recording i say "I am recording both audio and video"
I then do not need their permission.

Just to be clear, here in Oregon as in most states, you are only required to be notified if it's not in a public space. It's only illegal if it is in a place where you can reasonably expect privacy. For instance, I can record a cop on a traffic stop or in (at least) the lobby of city hall. I am allowed to video police and fire without their knowledge or permission.

In the privacy of your bedroom or the gym locker room are examples of exceptions.

[DDW_OR]

here is the law that a deputy told us

http://www.oregonlaws.org/ors/165.540

part C

(c) Obtain or attempt to obtain the whole or any part of a conversation by means of any device, contrivance, machine or apparatus, whether electrical, mechanical, manual or otherwise, if not all participants in the conversation are specifically informed that their conversation is being obtained