Pot house

I heard on the radio the other day that marijuana in Spain is often smuggled into the country in peoples stomachs. They then poop out the bags of weed and sell it on the street. Only problem is that now the marijuana is covered in poop. Ah, that's Spain so no need to worry silly Americans. Oh, wait a lot of marijuana still comes from across the border and is smuggled the same way here. Enjoy your e-coli laced weed kids!
So, does the above story have anything to do with this article? The point is that  marijuana comes from many different locations.  Do you ever wonder where the plant your friend is buying is being grown? Is it from a foreign country smuggled by gut, is it from the woods outside your home town grown by your friend Bud or is it being grown in the house next door by Mary and Jane? Well, there seem to be several stories per year where a person or people rent a home, and then they turn it into a grow house. I know this happened in my home town a little over a year ago. I'm not proud, just saying it happens all over the place. Now what happens to the house after it is discovered and what would your home insurance cover if your rental property was turned into a grow house?
How does having someone growing marijuana in your rental property impact the house? Let’s take a look and see what happens to these poor houses and homeowners.
You basically need three things to grow a crop inside. First are the plants themselves, second is water and third is light.  Houses are not designed to be factories or have things grown inside other than an occasional house plant. And in order to get them to work as farm/factory it takes several modifications to the home.
You need to run water to all the plants. So, you either need to set up some sort of irrigation system or you need to run hoses from the bathrooms to water the plants. Water and homes are not a great combination. Have you ever had a toilet overflow upstairs and flood the downstairs? It's a mess and imagine you now have hundreds of water hungry plants leaking water or being overfilled. If water gets spilled on any kind of flooring over and over again it can cause severe damage. Carpets, Hardwood, tile all can have significant water damage. Not to mention the actual plumbing on the house can be compromised by the alterations. In addition when the growers are trying to limit smells coming from the house they will often cover windows, and vents and trap all that moisture in the house. When you have a lot of moisture stuck inside it can cause tons of mold to grow. Mold is a huge problem and it causes health issues and it is very difficult to remove because it gets inside the walls and grows on the wood frame of the house.
In order for the plants to grow they need light. And since the sun can’t get into a sealed up house these growers use lamps above the plants. When they install these lights you can imagine they aren’t done with the greatest of care. They will often tap into current outlets causing damage to the wiring. They can bypass the electrical system of the house and tap directly into the main power grid which can cause significant damage to the homes electrical systems. You can imagine there aren’t many licensed electricians being used here.
After most of these grow houses are discovered it is a home insurance nightmare and a disaster for the owners. Toxic fertilizers could be left in the home, mold, water damage, plumbing issues, electrical problems, damage to the drywall.  It is not uncommon that the entire house will need to be gutted. Down to the frame where all the mold is removed and then rebuilt.
Now, insurance may cover certain losses, but it is very possible that insurance won’t cover the majority of the damage. For example mold. Most home policies have a limit on how much mold damage they will cover. Most policy limits are 5000. Now if you need to remove all the drywall and replace it that is going to cost a lot more than 5000 depending on the size of the home. Additionally, most home insurance policies don’t cover damage to your systems. So, damage to the wiring and pipes most likely won’t be covered. Additionally, some policies only cover the sudden discharge of water. Slow long term water seepage may not be covered. So, then it all falls under vandalism. Most policies cover vandalism but does this criminal act fall under vandalism? That kinda leaves certain things up to interpretation and may not be black or white.  
If you own a rental property you really need to make sure that you understand the terms of your policies. What are the exclusions what are covered losses. All companies handle claims differently and cover things differently. More than likely the owner of the home would be out of pocket a lot of money. Insurance may cover some of the damage but probably not all of it. When looking to cover a rental property give me a call at 951-395-0754 or visit www.socalinsured.com