Category: News | Published on 14 Feb 2012 | Written by mark

A Crime that is on the Increase

 In  the current challenging economic climate, more and more people are turning to crime to make ends meets and one particular crime that has increased significantly in the past 4 years is that of turning rental properties in to cannabis farms.

 

Whilst the majority of this type of illegal activity is still controlled by criminal gangs, in recent years there has been a surge in opportunist tenants acting on an individual basis. Sometimes they are spurred to commit the crime by the pressure caused by losing their job. Others see the activity as an easy way to  make money from a crime they believe will be difficult to detect and easy to get away with.

 

The issue is become a serious problem for landlords. A majority of the portfolio landlords I know have had a property turned in to a cannabis at some point in the last 5 years and I have suffered this fate myself twice during the same period.

 

Cannabis farm will usually cause a huge amount of damage to your property. At the very least, carpets, walls and ceilings are likely to be completely ruined, and the electricity installation severely damaged. The cost of repairing such damage will probably run in to many thousands of pounds, so it is definitely as case of prevention being better than cure.

 

 An easy, cheap and lucrative crime to commit

Beyond a person’s moral conscience there are very few barriers of entry to the cannabis growing market. The materials and equipment needed to set up a cannabis growing operation can be acquired cheaply and quickly from local stores. Perhaps most importantly they can also be bought legally by almost anyone without arousing too much suspicion.

For those who are minded to indulge in such an activity, committing the crime in a rental property is a particularly attractive option because the crime can be committed at the landlord’s expense. It is the landlord’s property that is damaged and the large volume of electricity used in the heating and lighting of plants will be stolen from the electricity supplier.

For those cannabis growers who manage to go undetected, the financial reward for their crime can be extremely lucrative. An average sized bedroom can yield a crop with a street value of £40,000.

 

How to stop your property being targeted

 

You can greatly reduce your risk of falling foul of this type of activity by taking a few simple precautions.

Pay attention to the way potential tenants behave when viewing the property

Your vigilance should start when you or your letting agent conduct viewings at the property for potential tenants. Tenants who intend to grow cannabis in the house will probably show little interest in the practical considerations that would normally concern prospective tenants.

Wondering how they will possibly fit their giant fridge freezer in to the kitchen or checking that the far corner of the lounge has enough sockets for their TV, digibox and DVD player is the behaviour of  a normal tenant thinking about how she will use the space to live in. Such considerations are of no concern to a cannabis grower who will likely spend little time comfortably enjoying the property, and their lack of interest in such mundane matters should arouse your suspicions.

 A cannabis grower may not even bother to look in all of the rooms when viewing a property. This is because they do not intend to use the property to live in, in a normal manne,r so such things are of less concern to them than the space available upstairs and your willingness to rent the property to them.

Beware of questions about the electricity supply

You should also be wary of tenants who seem especially interested in the electricity supply at the property. Most tenants will have no interest in the electricity supply beyond knowing that the lights and sockets function correctly, so a tenant asking questions about the location of the RCD board, the point at which the supply enters the house and other aspects of the electrical installation could be a cause for concern.

This is because the electricity supply is of critical importance to a cannabis grower. Cannabis requires huge amounts of heat and light to grow, which in turn means that electricity consumption in the property will spike massively. Knowing that a sudden and significant increase in electrical consumption will alert the supplier that there may be an issue at the property, the grower will try to tamper with supply in order to bypass the electricity meter. This will make the supplier assume that the property is still unoccupied and no electricity is being used.

Any potential tenant looking to grow cannabis at the property will want to be sure that it will be possible for them to bypass the electric meter before taking the tenancy on.

Beware of Tenants Offering to pay cash upfront for the entire length of the tenancy

Many tenants offer to pay 6 months of rent up front and in cash for entirely legitimate reasons.  However, if a potential tenant offers to do so and you have other reasons to be suspicious of them, you should proceed with caution.

Cannabis growers will regularly make such an offer to ensure that you have less reason to visit them and disturb their activity, during the course of the tenancy.  This is also a way of trying to avoid having to pass any bank details to you, which might assist police in tracing them in the future.

Ask for a Guarantor in addition to References and Credit checking

Most cannabis growers are well aware that good landlords will credit check them and ask for references. Doing so will not generally protect you from falling victim to this type of crime because the grower will be able to supply the requested information, possibly using false identities.

If you are at all suspicious of a potential tenant you would be well advised to ask them to supply a home owning guarantor in addition to references. You should tell the tenant that you intend to visit the guarantor at their home to get their signature and explain their responsibilities to them. It will be so much more difficult to supply bogus guarantor, that anyone thinking of getting up to any criminal activity in your property will probably withdraw from the application process at this stage.

Drive by the property soon after the tenancy has commenced

When a tenancy has started there are other signals that you should be looking out for. Cannabis cultivators will obviously want to do everything possible to conceal their activities which means that curtains to the rooms being used for growing the drug will remain closed at all times. If you pass the property during the day time and notice the curtains closed on more than one occasion, this should arouse your suspicions. Similarly if there always seems to be a light on behind the curtains, regardless of the time of day or night, this is another reason to suspect cannabis growing is taking place.

If you have cause for concern you should immediately attempt to contact the tenant to arrange a routine inspection of the property. You only need give 24 hours notice of your intention to conduct a property inspection. If the tenant ignores your attempts to make contact  with them, or otherwise tries to prevent an inspection taking place, this gives a strong indication that they wish to avoid allowing you to view the inside of the property and should be cause for serious concern.

Inspect the exterior of the property

In such circumstances you should conduct a closer inspection of the surrounds of the property as long as you feel it is safe to do so. If there is evidence of significant quantities of plant waste  in the rubbish or garden, or you can detect a strong odour emanating from the property, this a further sign pointing towards cannabis cultivation.

What to do if you suspect your property is being used as a cannabis farm

If you have reason to believe that your property is being used as a cannabis farm you should not attempt to enter the property or confront the tenant. If the operation is being run by a criminal gang there is a significant chance that the person occupying the property will not be the person that you believed to be your tenant, but will instead be a gang member, who may be carrying a weapon

You should report your suspicions to the police immediately and allow them to deal with the matter.

 

 

Image: m_bartosch / FreeDigitalPhotos.net

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