Legal Question in Real Estate Law in California

Well, first, growing marijuana with the proper permits may not be illegal under California law, but it is under Federal law. When an act is illegal under any system that has jurisdiction over you, yo cannot legally do the act. Think about running a red light. It's illegal under California law, but not under Federal law......not because Federal law condones running red lights, but because it is silent on the subject. By the same measure, California law's failure to criminalize the growing of MJ does not legalize it, so long as Federal was says its's a no-no. So, I'd agree with you that the buyer is breaching the financing agreements; what I'm less certain of is whether this breach is sufficiently serious for you to declare a default and foreclose or perhaps avail yourself of other remedies.

The next question might be whether you knew he planned to grow marijuana at the time of sale. If you did, you might be estopped from legally complaining, or even be deemed to be a co-conspirator. I think this is unlikely, but it should be mentioned.

However, the really big question is what do you want to happen? If the property has soared in value, you might want to get it back. If not, and the guy is making regular payments, maybe you are better off collecting the payments and ignoring the use.

If he gets arrested, how will it affect "my property"? The six acres isn't your property any more, except in the abstract sense that you have a deed of trust secured by it. If he is arrested, any incarceration would not be for long, unless he is guilty of other stuff as well.... the main issue would probably be the loss of his income stream which could affect his future ability to make payments. If you are concerned about possible forfeiture of the property as part of punishment for growing pot on it, my strong hunch is that (1) this is unlikely, and (2) if it did happen, you would get the property back, similar to a foreclosure. I do not know for sure and I suspect that your results would be better if you are absolutely uninvolved in the MJ operation and are just an innocent seller of land.

The only way it would affect you would be if the property were seized in a forfeiture case. Those are in rem proceedings that are brought in federal court. In that situation, you may or may not have an innocent lienholder defense. Send me a private email if you want more information.