BUGGED IN FORMER DRUG HOUSE

Lynn Couture was looking for bugs when she inspected a house to rent -- 18
months later, still no bugs.

Instead, her Johnson Street home has a faint chemical fog, a leaking roof,
a huffing furnace and an electrical system so erratic it has destroyed
eight appliances. The water might be contaminated as well.

She learned, when establishing an account with BC Hydro, that the house she
rents for $1,200 a month had been used for a marijuana grow-op. "I didn't
think to look under the carpet," Couture said. "It was really pretty. It
was a nice-looking house."

Couture has an ebullient nature and describes herself as slow to get mad.
But reading in The Tri-City News about the city of Port Coquitlam's plans
to ensure former grow-ops are de-contaminated, she'd had enough. "I read
the article, and the [rental agent] didn't do any of that." So she held
back a rent cheque and the rental agent served an eviction notice.

"They haven't fixed anything except the garage door," she said. "I had a
hard time trying to get the money for a bucket of paint."

Rolly Prevost of Advantage Home Inspection was hired to look at the place.
Prevost, who once designed commercial greenhouses, said, "That's exactly
what they did -- they turned it into a greenhouse. There's lots of water,
electricity and good access. What more could they want?"

What the owner has now is a house with enough vents punched through the
roof to require a complete replacement of the membrane, cupboard doors
swelled with moisture, a damaged electrical system, a furnace that needs
work and ducts that need replacing. Plumbing might need fixing because it
was altered to pipe water to plants all over the house, and the fresh water
system might be in contact with sewer piping. Prevost estimated repair
costs could be as high as $20,000.

Rodzena Au assists the owner, who doesn't speak English, in managing the
house; she said the publicity comes as a surprise. "Why didn't she talk to
us? The electrical system was repaired shortly after the tenant moved in,"
she said -- otherwise, the owner wasn't aware of the damage. "If I knew it,
I would fix it," she said. "I never saw anything inside the house. I didn't
see a police report, no one knew there was a grow-op."

When Couture moved in, BC Hydro didn't have a record of billing and an
electrical inspection reported that the electrical meter had been punched
out and the premises used as a grow-op.

Au said that was repaired as required, as was the garage door, but there
were no additional requirements from the city or requests from the tenant
for repairs, although Couture has a letter sent to the landlord dated
November 2000 that lists concerns and requests compensation. The tenant
said she called monthly to get repairs done, which the agent denies.

Coquitlam city spokesperson Therese Mickelson said the city can inspect and
order repairs to a building that does not meet the building code if it has
deficiencies that are structural and life-threatening. Mould, sanitation
and leaks do not qualify, she said.