Calgary Landlord Charged $5,000 After Reporting Grow Op; 10 Grow Ops Discovered in Manitoba

A landlord in Calgary told the local news that he has been charged a $5,000 “permit fee” from the city in order to clean up the aftermath of a tenant’s grow op.

The landlord himself made the report to the police, after becoming suspicious of his tenant.  He says the damage the tenant caused to the rental property may exceed $40,000.

That’s why he’s objecting to the city’s addition of a fee, which covers an inspection and supervision of the clean up.  The landlord also will have to pay for an $1,800 fence around the house, according to the report.

The landlord told reporters that now he regrets not just booting the tenant out.  He says he opted to go to the police because he did not want to pass the problem tenant on to another landlord.

In a related story, the RCMP announced that they busted ten grow operations in properties in Manitoba.

The operation was part of the Marihuana Grow Initiative, the RCMP’s national strategy to combat what are mostly organized crime groups that have invaded local  communities.  In a previous statement, the RCMP warned landlords that many of these criminals target rental properties to locate grow ops, and that landlords must use vigilance in tenant screening, and perform frequent property inspections.

Some of the operations were taking place in homes where children were living.

Six of the properties have been deemed unfit for human habitation until they have been inspected, remediated where required and deemed safe. Acting Fire Commissioner David Schafer warned that the volatile mix of chemicals, lights, and unsafe electrical, structural and plumbing modifications that are characteristic of grow ops becomes a significant risk to health and safety, and “can destroy a perfectly good home.”

Mould is another common result of a grow operation.  According to Lorne Weiss, Immediate Past President of the Manitoba Real Estate Association, real estate agents are now required to disclose when a property has been a grow op in case mould or other hazards are still present on the property.  “We are very pleased the RCMP has started publishing former grow ops to protect consumers.”

The RCMP made 1,070 drug seizures across the Manitoba last year, in over 200 communities.  Officers participating in the Marihuana Grow Initiative also uncovered 19 grow ops in properties around Calgary during a three-day sweep.

In one of those operations, the landlord reported that a phony tenant brought a child with him when he leased the property.  Shortly afterwards, the tenant disappeared.