Landlord Can Evict Marijuana Operation Without Giving Opportunity to Cure

October 21, 2020

What Happened: A county in a state with legalized marijuana adopted an ordinance banning cultivation. A tenant that got its license before the ban was adopted determined that it was exempt and kept on operating. But the tenant had never gotten the required permits and thus wasn’t a legally established cultivator exempt from the ban. Upon learning the news, the landlord asked a court to evict. The tenant contested the eviction because the landlord didn’t provide the required 10 days’ notice and opportunity to cure.

What Happened: A county in a state with legalized marijuana adopted an ordinance banning cultivation. A tenant that got its license before the ban was adopted determined that it was exempt and kept on operating. But the tenant had never gotten the required permits and thus wasn’t a legally established cultivator exempt from the ban. Upon learning the news, the landlord asked a court to evict. The tenant contested the eviction because the landlord didn’t provide the required 10 days’ notice and opportunity to cure.

Ruling: The Washington appeals court upheld summary judgment in favor of the landlord—that is, it granted the eviction request without a trial.

Reasoning: The landlord’s acknowledged failure to give the 10 days’ notice and opportunity to cure required by the lease was “academic under the circumstances” because there was no way the tenant could cure the violation of running an illegal marijuana cultivation operation. The tenant knew it needed permits to operate legally but never obtained them in violation of its lease duty to comply with all laws. And at this point, there was nothing it could have done to cure the default.

  • Poorman Enters., LLC v. RST P’ship, 2020 Wash. App. LEXIS 2626, 2020 WL 5905118

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