BUYER FEARS UNFOUNDED

Ald. Diane Colley-Urquhart's fears that former grow op houses are
being foisted off onto unsuspecting buyers are unfounded. Nor is the
system so "fuzzy," to quote bylaw department head Bill Bruce, that the
city needs a bylaw to protect potential buyers.

Colley-Urquhart raised her concerns after visiting a former grow op in
Cranston that is on the market, but has poor air quality and
paraphernalia still inside. However, whoever buys the place will have
to fix it to the Calgary Health Region's and the city's specifications
before anyone can live there.

When the police and Crown have been involved, it is impossible for a
potential buyer to be unaware of the home's grow op status, according
to the CHR. A condemned house can be sold, but it cannot be occupied
until the new owner has jumped through a number of stringent hoops.

Once a house is condemned, the CHR informs the registered owner and
the lending institution, and a note is put on the title to the property.

The new owner must hire an environmental consultant to assess air
quality, mould level and other damage, and file a report with the CHR.
The remediation work must be done under city permit -- mechanical,
electrical and other building-code related permits -- and inspected by
the city. Once all the work is documented, the CHR decides if the
house is safe to be occupied.

The only way a prospective buyer could be duped into buying a former
grow op home is if police had never been involved, and the owner did a
minimal cosmetic fix-up before putting it on the market. But that's
one reason why buyers are always advised to have a home inspection
firm check out a house before they ink the deal.

There's no need to fix an inspection system that isn't broken and, in
fact, works very well.