[Newsbot]

Title: Calgary landlord charged $5,000 after reporting grow-op
Category: Law & Order
Posted By: martin14
Date: 2012-03-10 08:39:11
Canadian

[martin14]

yup, pot is a victimless crime.


Very nice of the city to behave like morons, nothing like putting some yummy salt into a wound.

[Public_Domain]

[ccga3359]

We as taxpayers already have paid for it. The fencing isn't purchased new for the cleanup and the city officials are already on staff, this is a further kick in the balls to the homeowner who already is on the hook for repairs as insurance won't cover it. I've been to houses that were former grow-ops (attic insulation). Alle were higherend homes in respectable neighbourhoods. The damage/repairs are extensive. All drywall is removed and exposed wood studs/joists are treated and coated. if not done properly the smell just permiates everything. I'm assuming that the tennants were caught, if so they should be held fully responsible for all costs. It's about time the guilty were held accountable for their actions not the victims.

[andyt]

It's because pot's illegal that there are victims. You wouldn't get this sort of thing if legal growers could use warehouse space like any other business. There's a reason why they're not taking down a lot of tomato grows like this.

[Brenda]

$1:

The city says the $5,000 fee is to cover the cost of city inspectors who supervise the clean up.

They are on salary, a union job. I think residents pay for these "inspectors who supervise" whether they are sitting on their asses drinking coffee and playing cards all day or are actually "supervising".

Stop the bullshit. You have an honest guy here and they get punished? Really?

[PluggyRug]

andyt andyt:

It's because pot's illegal that there are victims. You wouldn't get this sort of thing if legal growers could use warehouse space like any other business. There's a reason why they're not taking down a lot of tomato grows like this.

Never smoked tomato, what's it like?

Anyways, I'm all for decriminalising pot.

[andyt]

ccga3359 ccga3359:

I'm assuming that the tennants were caught, if so they should be held fully responsible for all costs. It's about time the guilty were held accountable for their actions not the victims.

He can sue them to recover damages. Good luck with that.

Any smart owner checks out his tenants very carefully and has a clause in the lease for monthly inspections. Dunno about Alberta, but I believe in BC the attitude is that a landlord should know what's going on in their premises, and if they don't they are partly responsible. I believe if the suspicion is the owner turned a blind eye the house can be seized.

[raydan]

Why doesn't he just sell the pot?

[andyt]

Brenda Brenda:

$1:

The city says the $5,000 fee is to cover the cost of city inspectors who supervise the clean up.

They are on salary, a union job. I think residents pay for these "inspectors who supervise" whether they are sitting on their asses drinking coffee and playing cards all day or are actually "supervising".

Stop the bullshit. You have an honest guy here and they get punished? Really?

Yep, we pay for them in taxes. But the city recovers costs of those inspectors, so it offsets what we pay for them. Would you rather the city didn't do that. It's the same if you have some other project you're doing - you're going to pay the city for inspection. Do you want to subsidize all property owners for what the city spends on them?

[ccga3359]

andyt andyt:

It's because pot's illegal that there are victims. You wouldn't get this sort of thing if legal growers could use warehouse space like any other business. There's a reason why they're not taking down a lot of tomato grows like this.

Grow-ops will still exist whether legal or not. Cigarettes are a legal and controlled substance yet large scale smuggling still goes on. $9 for 200 cigarretes on the reserve, $90 at the corner store for 200 thanks to government control and taxation. This won't happen with marijuana? Stiffer penalties for grow-ops.

[Brenda]

andyt andyt:

Brenda Brenda:

$1:

The city says the $5,000 fee is to cover the cost of city inspectors who supervise the clean up.

They are on salary, a union job. I think residents pay for these "inspectors who supervise" whether they are sitting on their asses drinking coffee and playing cards all day or are actually "supervising".

Stop the bullshit. You have an honest guy here and they get punished? Really?

Yep, we pay for them in taxes. But the city recovers costs of those inspectors, so it offsets what we pay for them. Would you rather the city didn't do that. It's the same if you have some other project you're doing - you're going to pay the city for inspection. Do you want to subsidize all property owners for what the city spends on them?

I pay for my building permit, not for the inspector when he pays a visit (when I ask him to, btw).

Those "inspectors" need not supervise. The clean up crew is skilled enough to do what they have to do, that is their job. A job they do every freaking day. Are you telling me you agree with an innocent landlord having to pay a $5000 FINE which would "cover the cost of the supervisors overseeing the clean up"? NOT THE CLEAN UP, but the SUPERVISORS.
Fuck that.
And no, Andy, it doesn't "offset what we pay for them". It's just another scam.

[andyt]

Your building permit includes those fees.

It's not a fine and it's not something just assessed on grow ops.

It does offset what we pay for them. City Hall is not a money making corporation. If they don't asses these kinds of fees, they'd have to raise property taxes. I don't think that's any better.

I want the homeowner to bear these costs, because that seems the fair thing to me. If the house was vandalized by tenants in some other way and required this kind of remedial work, would you also want the city to provide it's services for nothing? This is a cost of doing business, plain and simple. Legalize pot and you wouldn't have this particular problem, but landlords would still be dealing with tenant damage all the time.

We have this sort of thing all the time in BC. Never heard anybody squawk when an actual grow-op is found, only when they don't find one and still assess those fees and make bullshit work orders.

[OnTheIce]

andyt andyt:

It's because pot's illegal that there are victims. You wouldn't get this sort of thing if legal growers could use warehouse space like any other business. There's a reason why they're not taking down a lot of tomato grows like this.

Pot isn't a harmless drug nor will "victims" be removed if it's legalized.

Remove your head from your ass.

[Brenda]

andyt andyt:

Your building permit includes those fees.

My building permit is $100, not $5000. Try again. The electrical permit is based on the number of rooms I am doing at that point and they are coming out of Nelson to inspect (about an hours drive) and are not a municipal service. Also, the building inspection office is not municipal.

$1:

It's not a fine and it's not something just assessed on grow ops.

Really? For whatever else inspection do we have to pay $5000 each?

$1:

It does offset what we pay for them. City Hall is not a money making corporation. If they don't asses these kinds of fees, they'd have to raise property taxes. I don't think that's any better.

I rather pay 0.01% more in property tax, than $5000 when my tenant is making me pay for illegal shit THEY do.

$1:

I want the homeowner to bear these costs, because that seems the fair thing to me. If the house was vandalized by tenants in some other way and required this kind of remedial work, would you also want the city to provide it's services for nothing?

Supervising a clean up? Seriously?

$1:

This is a cost of doing business, plain and simple.

This is NOT doing business. This is like writing a ticket for doing the legal limit.

$1:

Legalize pot and you wouldn't have this particular problem, but landlords would still be dealing with tenant damage all the time.

Biggest bullshit EVER. Legalizing pot would not make the grow-ops go away.

$1:

We have this sort of thing all the time in BC. Never heard anybody squawk when an actual grow-op is found, only when they don't find one and still assess those fees and make bullshit work orders.

Never heard of anyone having to pay a $5000 "fee" to pay for "supervising" something a very skilled group of people is doing.