Hello and thank you for joining us for this Navigate Tuesday tip. I’m
Pam and today we’re going to talk about alcohol and drug use and what
you can do to address issues that arise at your community. Alcohol and
substance abuse are a fairly significant issue in the United States. In
a 2023 national survey on drug use and health, they discovered that
among Americans 12 years of age and older, about 17% battled a substance
abuse disorder and a little over 10% battled an alcohol use disorder.
The issue of addiction spans all races, genders, ethnicities, religions.
So it is a pretty diffuse and significant issue and it is going to
impact us at housing communities. Associated issues when you’re talking
about substance abuse and alcohol abuse can include both physical and
emotional issues. Health issues can include things like increased risk
of cancer, skin disorders and infections, cerosis, strokes, liver and
kidney issues and mental health. And social issues can include things
like negative impacts on family and marriage, other relationships, loss
of housing, loss of job, and a stunted emotional growth. Alcohol and
substance abuse are also seen as risk factors for eviction. This is
largely because of some of those issues we talked about just a second
ago. Alcohol and substance abuse can result in job loss or economic
strain, criminal behavior, violence or disruptive behavior, and
self-destructive tendencies or damage to property, which means it can
impact somebody’s ability to comply with a lease. We get concerned about
something that’s going to impact evictions because of the significant
financial cost of your average eviction. Assuming a 2 to threemonth
eviction process, you could be looking at up to $500 or more in court
costs, potentially tens of thousands of dollars in legal fees. And then
you also have the associated costs of vacancy loss and unit turnover.
there were just over a million evictions filed in the US. We’ve found
that one of the best things you can do when you’re talking about
avoiding evictions is effective screening. Past behavior predicts future
behavior. And when you look at an resident who has been evicted, they
have nearly three times the historical rate of prior issues than

an applicant that has never had an eviction. So past behavior predicts
the future. HUD again requires you to reject for an eviction in the last
3 years for drugrelated criminal behavior. Any member of the household
who is currently minutesengaged in illegal use of drugs and any member
whose use or pattern of use of alcohol poses a potential risk to your
tenants. HUD strongly encourages you to consider mitigating factors, but
you’re not required to. Some of the things you probably want to consider
are things like if the person has a history of, you know, alcohol use or
substance abuse and related criminal behavior, are they sober now? Have
they had treatment? How long has it been since those issues occurred? Is
the person that has the issue no longer part of the household? Is there
a VAWA issue that now has resolved or the seriousness of the offense?
For instance, if I had a minor possession arrest when I was 18 and I’m
30 now, it’s very likely that that’s not an ongoing concern if nothing
else indicates to you that I have remaining substance abuse concerns.
You also may need to look at the need for a reasonable accommodation or
modification if somebody is telling you they have addressed their
substance abuse disorder or if it’s something like someone who was
unmedicated when the behavior occurred they have a disability and now
that disability is being effectively managed. That could be a reason for
you to reconsider their application. But you, the owner agent sets what
mitigating factors they will consider and those should be set down in
your selection plan. One of the things that can get confusing for people
is what exactly is an issue when you’re talking about alcohol or
substance abuse that is a teny issue, a lease violation. For instance,
if somebody drinks every day and they’re always drunk, just drinking is
not a reason for eviction. You’re looking at things that interfere with
the ability of management to run the property, that interfere with other
tenants, or significantly financially impact the property. So, you’re
looking at things that violate the lease. Drug use is always an issue
and that includes marijuana. Even if it’s legal in your state when
you’re talking about HUD housing, marijuana is a federally controlled
substance. Use of it is always going to be an issue. When you think you
may need to evict for alcohol or drug use, consult with your

supervisor or your attorney for whether you can or should evict and
whether you have sufficient documentation. So, marijuana use in federal
housing is is still a topic of debate, but the rule is right now,
regardless of state law, use is still prohibited in any form, whether
it’s medicinal or recreational, and whether it’s legal in the state. It
is not a reasonable accommodation to allow someone to continue to use
marijuana, even medicinal, in your property. You have a little more
discretion when you’re talking about a tenant. HUD says that if you
discover that a tenant is using, you have the discretion on whether or
not you’re going to evict. Doesn’t mean it’s okay, but it says you have
the discretion on whether you’re going to move forward with an eviction.
So, some of the considerations are what form is the person using it in
and does using it in that form violate the lease in and of itself and
does their use disturb others? So, if I have a tenant who is smoking
marijuana on my property and it’s a non-smoking building, that’s not
acceptable. Smoking anything is not allowed on the building. But if I
have somebody who’s say using gummies that generally is not going to
disturb others and eating a gummy in and of itself is not a lease
violation. Now a THC gummy, yes, but you know it’s not something like
smoking where the very act itself is going to violate the lease. One
important thing to note though is if you are not going to evict, you are
not saying it’s okay for the person to continue using. You’re simply
saying you decline to evict. So, you’re not moving forward with an
eviction, but it’s not okay that they use THC on your property. You want
to avoid saying anything that implies that you’re allowing them to use.
You can just let them know, you know, HUD says that you cannot use
marijuana in federal housing, but at this time we are declining to evict
you. Or you could say to them, well, you know, marijuana use is not
acceptable at this property. You’re smoking, which is also not
acceptable. If it’s necessary and you can use it in an alternate form,
we will decline to evict. You just never want to say that it’s okay. All
of these things should be looked at with an eye on HUD’s specific

language. There’s should versus may versus must. HUD says you must
screen and reject for certain conditions. So things like a history of
drugrelated criminal behavior and presence on a sex offender registry.
They say you should do certain things. That means recommend but not
require and may means that the owners can set their own policies as long
as they don’t violate HUD guidelines. For instance, um HUD requires me
to reject for presence on a lifetime sex offender list, but in my
selection plan, I could say any pres presence on a registered sex
offender list means I’m going to reject whether it’s lifetime or 10
years. So, you do have some leeway for that. And it’s up to the owners
and agents to set those. And it’s also up to the owners and agents to
set what mitigating circumstances you’re going to consider. Also,
remember that when HUD is saying you may evict, for instance, you know,
you may decide to evict or not with a tenant who’s using marijuana, that
does not mean that the state will grant the eviction. So sometimes state
law and HUDs will conflict and you should always be consulting with your
supervisor and your attorney about whether an eviction is feasible or
recommended. Safety is the most important thing for you at your
property, safety of your tenants, and safety of your staff. And when
you’re dealing with somebody who may be abusing alcohol or substances,
it can present a danger to any individuals that encounter them. Do not
directly confront ever an agitated individual, especially if you believe
they’re under the influence. And be aware that in states where marijuana
use is legal, especially when recreational use is legal, police may not
be able to assist you. If somebody’s just smoking and you smell smoke in
the building, that’s a lease condition. In a state that marijuana is
legal in, it may not be at all a police matter. uh manufacture, growing
sale that is generally a police matter, any other related criminal
behavior that’s associated with it or any threats to themselves or
others. Absolutely. And when in doubt, if you feel you need law
enforcement to address the situation, call them. They would much rather
come out for something that turns out to be minor than not come out when
you need them.

Some of the important things to do when you’re talking about legal
action or law enforcement, document everything. Document, document,
document, document. Again, you want to make sure that you’re noting who,
what, where, why, when, date and time, who was there, who’s writing the
note, exactly what happened. Um, you also want to make a note of if
you’re writing a note on what you observed, who else was there? Be aware
of surveillance and recording laws. Make sure that if you have security
cameras at your property that they are not recording sound if they’re
not supposed to be recording sound. Make sure that everyone at your
property is aware of what surveillance systems are in place. Um you
should have signs and notifications to people when they’re on camera.
And one of the most important things to do is to be firm and press
charges when appropriate. If there is an issue that minutesis a lease
violation and you called the police out, you want to be pressing charges
where it’s appropriate to do so. You don’t have to be unpleasant, but
you should be firm and consistent. You also want to support residents in
being an active part of safety at their community. any safety measures
that you put in place are going to work much better when the residents
are invested in seeing that their community is safe. Encourage them to
press charges where it’s appropriate, but don’t make promises. Don’t
promise that you can evict someone because we all know that once you get
into court, anything can happen. Educate and make your residents aware
of the protections. Make them aware of VAWA. Make them aware of the
rules on marijuana use. Involve your RSC where it’s appropriate. If you
have a resident who was the victim of domestic violence on the property,
make sure that minutesif you have an RSA, you’re involving them and
providing support to that resident. And make your expectations and the
lease and a house rule expectations very clear. What can be really hard
about this is we’re not therapists. We can’t force someone to get help.
And although we might know somebody would be a great tenant if they’d
stop drinking, we can’t make them stop drinking. The RSC’s can make
referrals, but they’re not therapists either. And unfortunately, you
have to realize that some people never get sober. Some people never stop
drinking. Some people never stop using drugs. And our concerns, our
prime concerns are the lease and HUD compliance, the safety of our
residents.

We’re not there to judge morality. It’s not for me about whether I
believe use of marijuana is correct or alcohol use is correct or proper.
It’s about lease compliance. People have the right to make bad choices
in their life. and you know, you have the right to decide you’re going
to use drugs. You just don’t necessarily have the right to use it on my
property. So, it’s about the lease compliance. It’s not about judging
them as a bad person. And we always want to make sure that when we’re
talking to them, that comes across. We’re not saying they’re a bad
person. We’re just saying that the rules here have to be followed and
they have to be followed for everybody. So, make sure you are enforcing
those rules consistently and fairly. So, key takeaways when we’re
looking at this. Effective screening is your best tool to reducing
evictions. Screen effectively for the issues that are going to disturb
your residents or indicate a failure to comply with the lease. Marijuana
use prohibited in HUD housing in any form, but you do have discretion as
to how you handle it with a resident. Depending on state law, you may
not be able to look for the police to support an issue with somebody
using marijuana on the property. HUD recommends consideration of
mitigating factors with your tenants selection plans. So, if you know
you will look at a history of treatment or you’ll look at time since
somebody’s offense, you need to make sure that’s in your tenant
selection plan. Never, ever, ever put yourself in danger to confront an
individual who’s suspected to be under the influence, especially if they
are agitated or violent. And call the police when needed. If somebody is
yelling and screaming and making threats, call the police. So, that’s
going to do it for today. We’d love to know what you would like to see
on the next Tuesday tip. Please let me or Vicki know what you’d like to
see and we’ll do our best to get it to you.