HOME-BUYERS MUST BE WARY OF GROW-OPS, OFFICIALS URGE

SASKATOON -- Imagine buying a new home.

You begin to hang pictures on your walls but discover that they won't
stay up. The walls are too "mushy." You peel away the paint and
wallpaper to find layers of mold lining the inside of your home. If
you knock on your neighbours' doors, you discover your house was
raided by police not long ago.

You're living in a what was recently the home of a grow op.

This happened to one Canadian family, said Marie Dyck of the Canada
Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC).

Dyck spoke to a group of lenders, brokers and real estate agents on
how to avoid lending to grow operators in Saskatoon on Friday. She
also spoke about trends in clandestine narcotics labs and marijuana growth.

"We've seen quite a bit of it here in Saskatoon lately," she said.
"It seems to be a hotbed for meth, which is going to be the new grow
house I think."

The "fraudsters" choose to buy houses for narcotics production
because of the lower start up costs, less risk of detection, quicker
production time and easier distribution, she said.

"I don't find it surprising at all that a criminal would use
fraudulent means to obtain title to a home because they don't want to
use their own money," said the RCMP's Brian Jones.

"They are very well aware that sometimes we go after the proceeds of
the crime as well as the property of the crime."

During a grow op, carbon dioxide is pumped into the house to help the
plants grow larger, ozone gas is generated to mask the odours, and
the chemicals used in production can permeate walls, carpets,
plaster, wood and surrounding soil, Dyck explained.

Houses used for grow-ops look better than fine on the outside. Of the
house she described, it had only undergone cosmetic repairs ---
mainly fresh paint and plaster. The family's young son was sleeping
in the room where the marijuana nursery had been, she said.

Currently, there are no standards on how to properly rehabilitate a
grow op house. "The lenders were asking us 'what do I do? How do I
make this house safe? What is necessary?," Dyck said.

The CMHC has conducted research into how grow op houses are affected
by the process and what needs to be done to fix the problems. Their
findings should be released later this year.

"This is a serious issue across the country," said Denys Chamberland,
spokesperson for CMHC. For those looking to purchase a home right
now, "we have a step-by-step guide for home buyers in terms of what
professionals are out there, in terms of helping them to purchase a
home," Chamberland said.

"And one of the professionals available are inspectors. So one of the
things consumers can consider in the (purchasing) of the home is
getting an inspection so they become aware of any previous issues or
existing issues with the property."