GROW-OP CHARGES ANGER LANDLORD

VAUGHAN -- A knock on the door from York Regional Police was the first
time landlord Hasan Farooq found out his tenant had a marijuana grow-op.

While the cops arrested his renter, Farooq quickly found out he was on
the hook for the building and fire code violations created by the
clandestine operation.

"It makes me angry; the next day the criminals got out," Farooq said.
"They're not getting punished and here we are being penalized."

Farooq was shocked to learn the 75-year-old man renting his home was
secretly growing marijuana and even stealing hydro to do it. The
illegal hydro hook-up was right inside the front door but outside the
home still looked fine.

After the police raid, Farooq was able to go in the house to see the
damage. He said there was mould everywhere, water in the light
fixtures and $140,000 in repairs that had to be done to the house.

Farooq ended up facing the charges in court where he was given a
$5,000 fine for fire code violations on top of having to pay to fix
the house.

Part of his punishment was going public with his story to help educate
other landlords about the dangers of being an absentee landlord,
Vaughan Fire Chief Greg Senay said. He said yesterday the
court-ordered media appearance was the first in Canada.

Vaughan city officials hope the appearance will help show landlords
how they can help police and fire officials rid communities of the
potentially dangerous grow-ops.

Since January 2007, Senay said a team of fire, police and city
officials have worked to help fix the damage caused by 52 grow-ops. Of
those cases, 31 homes have been repaired, 11 are in the process of
being fixed, seven are still before the courts and three homes have
been demolished.

Vaughan Mayor Linda Jackson said because grow-ops put residents at
risk, she's committed to stamping them out. She said her city has the
most stringent rules for repairing grow-op houses in the GTA.

Ontario Fire Marshal Pat Burke said during the last six months his
office has been called to investigate a fire involving a drug
operation every 15 days.

Burke said landlords need to be on the lookout for tell-tale signs,
including moisture on the windows, lots of visitors coming and going
from the house and, in the winter, no snow on the roof because a
grow-op generates heat.