God, it seems like I post in here nearly every week. I guess that's what happens though when you don't have anyone else to bounce ideas off of.

So a couple months ago, my boyfriend and I moved in with another couple that we knew. Long story short, they smoke weed... a lot. At first this wasn't really a problem because they assured us that they had their secret spots they would go to. Well, about a month ago my boyfriend and I went to McDonalds for some food and came home and the house REEKED of marijuana. We confronted them and they straight up lied to us, claiming that "sometimes the scent sticks" to them. I knew this was utter bullshit because I've come home smelling like cigarette smoke but never have I ever had my clothes make an entire apartment stink. We called them out on their fallacy and they continued to deny it. When we finally got them to fess up, we made it clear that any sort of smoking on the premise is a violation of our lease and them smoking marijuana here could get my boyfriend and I into legal trouble as well when we weren't even participating. At this point, we were sure they got the picture.

Well, now it seems that they're still not getting it. Last night, they told my boyfriend they were going to go smoke, to which he just said whatever because they had said something about going to one of their "secret spots." After about a half an hour they still weren't leaving so he asked them when they were going to go, to ensure that they weren't smoking here. They finally went out the front door to "leave." My boyfriend decided to take out the trash and as soon as he walked out there, he realized that both their cars were still here and they were actually on the side of our apartment smoking pot. Mind you, our neighbors driveway runs along the side of our house and we constantly have cops running up and down the street. He confronted them on it again and now they're refusing to take their smoking elsewhere.

I came home tonight and they didn't hear me come in. After about 5 minutes I hear our female roommate raising hell about how we "can never be satisfied," how she's "sick of it," and how we shouldn't expect them to go to someone else's property. At that point, I made my presence known and she abruptly shut up about the topic and started being all goody-goody. As of now, my boyfriend and I are about ready to start calling the cops or report them to our landlord. We're not sure how to even approach this anymore because they've lied to us so many times about where they're smoking. They know they're doing something wrong because they keep trying to hide it, but they're not willing to even budge. What should we do?

TLDR; Our roommates constantly smoke pot in or around our apartment, even though it is a breach of our lease agreement. We've asked them to stop on multiple occasions and to take it elsewhere and they refuse. What should we do at this point?

PING ME!

Wait, you're saying you moved in with them? I understand your issues but if they were there first and you have issues with them, I think YOU should start looking for another place.

That seems like a better option than calling the cops or talking to the landlord. If you don't like the situation, go somewhere else. Obviously they're being pretty bad housemates by not respecting your pretty reasonable requests, but you should really remove yourself from the situation. Find subletters. It's way easier and less dickish than getting your housemates in trouble because they have habits that don't jive with yours, even if it is illegal where you live. If you're all equally responsible for the place under the lease, and if you guys are the ones with the concerns, it's really unfair to assume that THEY should be the ones to leave while guys get to stay. I wouldn't want to live with people who were that disrespectful anyway.

I don't think it really matters who was there first in this situation. Anyone who breaks the lease is usually removed, regardless of who moved in first and whatnot. You've tried reasoning with them and asking them to go elsewhere with an activity that violates the lease. Plus cops are passing by frequently so they shouldn't be smoking pot in or around the apartment anyway. They've shown that they can't be trusted to leave the apartment to smoke so it should be treated like any other activity that breaks the lease. Notify your landlord and let them know the situation. It's not worth it for you to have to potentially deal with the repercussions from their choices. If the landlord won't do anything, then it's time to start looking for a new place.

They are breaking the law, and they are doing it in such a way that could get you in legal trouble. You've already taken the necessary first step of talking to your roommates directly. You have explained that they are breaking the lease, the law, and generally creating a negative impact on your life. Here are the steps I would take next:

1. Make it clear that if the smoking on the property doesn't stop, you WILL go to the landlord. No more miss nice roommate.
2. Assuming they don't actually stop, let your landlord know in person or over the phone, and give them the chance to take care of it off the record.
3. If it continues, notify the landlord in writing. At this point, the landlord generally has 30 days to remedy the situation before you are allowed to break your lease and leave, if you end up choosing that option. The landlord may try to evict your roommates, and/or allow you to move into another unit if one is available. The landlord may also straight up call the cops, as in some states, simply having marijuana on the property, even if it's not the landlord's, can cause huge problems for said landlord.
4. If the weed smoking continues during this process, you can tell your roommates that you will call the cops, if you want to go that route.
5. Call the cops, if you want to go that route.
6. If things aren't cleared up by the end of the 30 days, you are legally allowed to break your lease. Find a new place to live.

There is a solid chance that your landlord will try to evict your roommates, which can be a messy process for everyone involved. If you don't have a way to lock up and protect your space within the apartment, you may want to find a temporary place to stay or at least store your belongings during that time.

I hope that helps, and good luck! I actually had to move last year because an apartment neighbor wouldn't stop smoking near the air intake to my apartment, so I feel your pain.

No, we moved out of our old apartment right next door so that they would be able to move in with us. WE technically got THEM the apartment. But, I find that whole point null anyway. Also, we're leased for a year so it wouldn't really matter anyway if we decided to move out.

Well after I wrote the original post, I came downstairs and the house reeked of marijuana again. I left because I didn't want to stay and end up going to work smelling like pot (I work at a hospital). I came back like an hour later because I needed to get ready. At that point I texted her letting her know that she was putting me in an uncomfortable position where I don't feel capable of confronting her in person anymore. I told them that if the smoking continued on the property that I would leave it up to our landlord or higher authority. I also told her that it wasn't about us being "satisfied" as it was respecting our lease and us as people. I mentioned that we chose them as roommates and that they could poorly affect our rental history if our landlord or authorities found out. This seemed to work better than our past attempts so we'll see how it goes a month from now.

Nah you're right, the more I think about it the more I think confronting them is the better idea, especially in the case of something illegal that you really don't want to risk. Sounds like you're handling this well, I really hope they understand this time.

Aw that sucks I would never roommate with anyone. Its bad enough I dislike every neighbor who has lived above me lol.. I get frustrated easily especially with noise and someone just moved again above me and the persons friends or family are parking in my spot I don't really want to confront them because I have a temper and if they tried to get crazy with me Id explode so I will have my aunt let them know not to park in my car spot. Its very weird though because these people didn't even ask me if it was okay already shows that they are most like the type of people who don't care and think they can do what ever they want. I feel for you though I hate the smell of weed its disgusting hope everything goes well for you :)

Looks like I'm back again, almost a month later. A couple days ago, my boyfriend thought he heard them outside behind out apartment at like 11 PM. I thought he was probably just hearing things because they hadn't gone out the door and thus they couldn't be outside. He then corrected me telling me that he thinks they've been going out their window to keep us from knowing they're smoking pot here again. Well, today I went out into our backyard to check things out and sure enough, their screen is completely off their window and there are cigarette butts all over the ground. I'm so at my wits end with them right now. What do I even do without solid proof that they're doing what we're fairly certain they're doing.

Does your contract permit smoking? I would probably let this one slide. Where you aren't sure, it could just cause problems with your room mates, and you're living together so you probably want to keep a fairly good relationship with them as long as they are there. If I were you I'd probably find some passive aggressive way to let them know you're onto them, "Hey guys, we would really appreciate it if you could clean up your cigarette butts" or buy/make something for them to deposit their cigarette butts in c:

Of course you have the same options as before, and most contracts state that landlords are allowed to visit the premises after notifying you.

I put the screen back on the window from the outside, so it will be difficult for them to properly take it out and/or replace it the same way. I also cleaned up their cigarette butts so that if there are new ones out there, I will know. Also photographed everything. I'm hoping that when they see the screen back on, they shit their pants a bit wondering who put it back up. They're just so blatantly naive. I don't think I'll ever live with people who have never lived with anyone again.

ugh that sounds like a really frustrating situation. :( one option is you could encourage them to get a vaporizer. you can use them inside and they don't smell like anything at all (plus you go through, like, 1/3 of the weed you would smoking it, and it's better for you bc you're not smoking it - if you need points to convince them with). they're kinda pricy... but like, the more affordable ones are the same price as a quality bong (like $150) so they probably won't mind investing.

hopefully they're otherwise respectful and decent housemates. (:

xD That's if they could actually afford it. lol. We caught them once more and reported it to our landlord who said to just call the cops next time it happens. She also told us that she doubts it'll be a problem for too much longer because our female roommate, who is the main problem, is apparently moving out and has yet to tell us. She literally told everyone she knew, told them not to tell us, and then she didn't even bother telling us so we'll see how that goes when she actually goes to move out next weekend or whatever.

oh my god i had exactly the same problem with a housemate in my first year at uni. she privately decided to leave, having found another place and telling the landlord (who thought she'd told us too), and we didn't end up finding out until a few days before. we had to scramble to find a replacement housemate. anyway this chick was gross and rude so i'm not overly heartbroken :p

but ugh it sounds like you need some housemates who are more open and honest in communicating with you. but there are some pretty great housemates out there (i live with 3 of them ^^) and hopefully this experience doesn't make you too wary of living with other ppl. at least those fuckers will be out of your hair soon!

I'm surprised how people think that's an okay thing to do! My first roommates (there were 4 of them) did the exact same thing and they never actually admitted it. I called them out on it the week before they left and wrote them a huge letter letting them know how horrible they are and how their religion won't make them good people until they actually treat people right.

Additionally, last night we found out our other roommate is also moving out so now we've taken it upon ourselves to try and find new roommates before they find someone themselves. After our lease ends in December we'll probably move to government housing down the road from us so that we don't have to have anymore roommates. I've had my fill of roommates I think. lol

lmfao what shit heads. sounds like you have a pretty colourful housemate history lol and looks like living alone might be the most reliable option here so best of luck! hopefully no annoying neighbours :p