Probable cause for a search warrant?

timmychan

Active Member
I have a locked grow tent in my tiny apartment. the only way to get inside would be to break tha zipers with some bolt cutters.

But if management comes in, and I tell them some bullshit story about what that big black box is, and they walk out like its nothing and decide to call tha cops because they think Im growing marijuana. Does that alone give probable cause for a search warrent? And if tha police do come and happen not to have a warrent, do they have tha right to just barge in since manngements tha ones that called them?

Any legal majors or lawerys here?

Hit me up

~Timmy
 

LorDeMO

Active Member
Why would managment enter your apartment? They have to give you written permission before they do so, I wouldn't worry too much about it. If you're gonna grow illegally though, be prepared for the consequences :/
 

timmychan

Active Member
I know all about tha risk and everything and am ready to do time if I somehow slip up. But they actually unlocked my door one morening while I was in bed sleeping, before i was growing luckily and was like "we gotta do a routine check".

I have lowered my risk next to nothing other than growing in an apartment and posting on this website.

No one knows about it, theres no smell due to my can 33 carbon filter, theres locks on the tent which makes it impossible to get in without a key, which I happen to dont have -wink- if someone happens to ask.

I just wanted to clarify tha legal laws about attaining search warrents and how police or management force they're way into my room or break tha locks on my grow tent.

Basically, what would give probabal cause to attain a search warrent related to a marijuana grow?

Thanks, and hit me up.

~Timmy
 

Countryfarmer

Active Member
Although it can vary from state to state due to different state laws governing rental units, in general management can enter after giving notice for safety inspections, to spray for pests and to perform other maintenance. Also, in general, the lawful occupant of a home or apartment is the only person who can legally give police access to the dwelling.

That being said it does not take a whole lot for probable cause to be established. If the management of your apartment complex called the police and stated that their representative had seen a marijuana grow in your apartment (whether or not they actually saw anything, just inferred such from the grow tent) then on the word of one non-anonymous person the police could easily get a search warrant that specifically stated that they would be searching the contents of your grow tent. Voila! You are busted and it is completely legal.
 

timmychan

Active Member
Although it can vary from state to state due to different state laws governing rental units, in general management can enter after giving notice for safety inspections, to spray for pests and to perform other maintenance. Also, in general, the lawful occupant of a home or apartment is the only person who can legally give police access to the dwelling.
What would happen if I put a deadbolt on tha door without their permission? What could they do? Would I have to give them a copy to tha key for tha lock or what?

That being said it does not take a whole lot for probable cause to be established. If the management of your apartment complex called the police and stated that their representative had seen a marijuana grow in your apartment (whether or not they actually saw anything, just inferred such from the grow tent) then on the word of one non-anonymous person the police could easily get a search warrant that specifically stated that they would be searching the contents of your grow tent. Voila! You are busted and it is completely legal
The judge will really sign a warrent because of an anonymous tip about an apartment grow? would it really be worth their time for something so small that they dont even know if its marijuana or not?

I was thinking of growing jalepenos and cilantro in small 1 gallon DWC buckets on my desk with my computer under a couple of CFLs. So when they ask wats in tha big tent? Ill tell him its a project to see if I can grow an entire crop of tomatoes, onions, vegatables, etc. totally automated, self watering, self lights on/off. If they wanna look I telll them I left that keys at a friends house and they can come back later to look. And if they keep buggin, Ill know its time to tear down shop and either move or chop QUICK.

Anywayz, im tryin to keep low as possible to get this sshit harvested and moved, so i can move out this state and go leagal.

Hit me up
~Timtim
 

Countryfarmer

Active Member
Take a look at your lease contract. I am sure it has a stipulation allowing the management's representatives to enter the apartment and probably spells it out clearly. As to what is needed for probable cause, I think you misread me. It generally takes a non-anonymous informant, not anonymous as you stated. The management is definitely not anonymous. Growing in a rental unit is a huge risk because you have people who have access to your apartment for contractual reasons, and those people can screw you over badly if they decide to call the po-po and report your grow tent as a marijuana grow.

If you are determined to grow in your rental unit I would suggest doing the following:

(1) Get your grow tent set-up and start growing some vegetables
(2) Go to the management's office and explain what you are doing and invite them to come and visit your apartment to verify you are doing nothing illegal
(3) Explain to the management that you are coming to them because your hobby has caused you issues in the past with a "zealous" management representative calling the police and a search warrant being issued (I would even go so far as to state that you sued the previous rental company and won an out of court settlement because of their action - if pressed on details state that you have told them too much already and are bound by a non-disclosure agreement)
(4) Once the management has either looked at your grow tent or declined to do so make a gift to the office personnel of some vegetables - buy them from the farmer's market and portray them as your own
(5) Over time continue to make gifts of your indoor "vegetable garden"
(6) Place a sign on your tent that clearly tells any representative who enters your apartment that this is a vegetable grow and that management is aware of it
(7) Tell management about your sign and enlist their help in keeping any overly zealous representative from reporting you - reference the previous claimed bad experience as why you are doing so

Keep in mind, even if you manage to bullshit the management of the rental company and even if they state they will help in curtailing any reports of your grow to the police, management companies do not keep pest control agents on staff so you will still have to deal with outside third parties who have access to your home. And those third parties are a variable you can not control.

If you do decide to grow, best of luck to you. Personally, I wouldn't have the balls to take that big of risk. Happy growing!
 

timmychan

Active Member
Im sorry bro, but although thats a wonderful thought out idea, I cant do that. I dont have tha time or people skills to do all that and get this up and runnin in less than 5 months.

But if I were to change tha locks there would be no way for them to get into my room at all. Then if they ever have to come in I can just tell them im in another city and ill be back in a couple dayz. Then have everything lookin good and if they still want to come in, They can see theres nothi wrong but my big black box thats a photo developer.:D
 

Countryfarmer

Active Member
I am fairly certain your contract does not allow you to change the locks on your door, or to add locks to which management does not have keys. You can give it a shot, but my guess is the first time a management rep tried to enter and found they could not you might be facing loss of your deposit and once management did gain access you would still have the same issues as before. Anyway, hope it works out for you!
 

sharon1

Active Member
Yea dude, definately, DO NOT put any different locks on your door. It's illegal, and you will serve only to piss them off and hassle you.
 
Ok guys wtf do I do if they coming to redo my apt and have nowhere to hide my tent and they in flower??? They will be working right in the room with it changing windows an shit
 

tyler.durden

Well-Known Member
Ok guys wtf do I do if they coming to redo my apt and have nowhere to hide my tent and they in flower??? They will be working right in the room with it changing windows an shit

I've heard of people renting a u-haul truck to store their plants in for a day or two in such situations. Here's an amusing anecdote of an instance I had to deal with -

A few of years ago my landlord had electricians coming to update all the wiring in my building. The last thing I wanted to do was to completely take down my grow room, which is 6.5x8 and located in a strange spot in the apartment (they split this old building up strangely to make smaller units many decades ago). I was very worried when I got the notice, so I called the building management to get specifics: would they need to get to every outlet in every room? How time consuming and labor intensive will this be? They assured me that it would take about 15 minutes and wouldn't be invasive. SO WRONG! The day before my renovation, I saw what they were doing to the downstairs unit, it took all day, and it was very invasive, tearing down a wall, making holes in various places, etc.. I had a decision to make, rip down the room, or simply not to let them in there. I then had a ballsy idea: I'll blockade the room by disguising the entrance by putting my huge metal cabinet in front of it and stack boxes on top. When I finished, you couldn't even tell the room was there, just looked like part of the wall. If this didn't work and they absolutely needed to get in there, I would say they needed to come back the next day, then tear it all down. When the workers showed up, I stayed in my bedroom for the first few hours, then came out to the living room when they needed to do the bedroom wiring. I sat right in front of the cabinet with my pc nervous as hell, but outwardly calm. Then came the bombshell, they needed to turn off the power for a couple hours. Fuck. The smells that will be coming from the GR is gonna kill me. I went to get some vanilla incense, and lit one after the other for the next 90 minutes, they must have thought I was a weirdo. Only in the last 20 minutes could I begin to smell the dank seeping out of the room. I joked around with the workers as they did their final tests after turning the power back on, and the faint dank smell disappeared as the power to the carbon scrubbers was restored. I couldn't believe I got away with this - for months I thought they knew what was up the entire time, and thought it easier to just report me. But no one ever came or called. Whew. Sometimes I think they may have known, thought it was badass, and just didn't give a fuck. I'll probably never know either way...


 
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