Imagine you have a teenage daughter who is going through something of a rebellious phase. She is breaking curfew, sneaking around and, you recently discovered, experimenting with drugs. You warn her that she could get in some very serious trouble if she is arrested in possession of drugs or accused of selling drugs, but you should understand that you could face some serious penalties, too.
If police have reason to believe your home is serving as a place where drugs can be sold or found, it could be classified as a public nuisance and you could be forced out of your home.
This is a situation similar to one a woman in another state recently faced. She learned that she was being kicked out of her house because her adult son, who hadn’t lived in the home for many years, was charged with a criminal offense. After his arrest, authorities searched his mother’s home.
During the search, police found a single cigarette containing marijuana and the home was classified as a “drug-related nuisance.” Facing eviction, the woman ultimately decided to move out of the home she lived in for eight years.
When a home or building is determined to be one where criminal activity is known to be occurring, Florida authorities can declare it a public nuisance. The intention of this action is to protect neighbors and the community from illegal and potentially dangerous environments.
Not every property is flagged as a nuisance, so it can be difficult to anticipate when this might happen.
To further complicate matters, there are times when authorities make a mistake or go too far, which seems to be the case for the mother who was kicked out of her home. If this sounds like a situation similar to one you are currently facing, it can be crucial that you work with an experienced criminal defense attorney who is familiar with complex drug laws and the charges that police often pursue in light of possession allegations.