SCARBOROUGH GROW HOUSES LISTED ON-LINE

The Toronto Police Service has begun to publish the exact street
addresses of marijuana grow operations -- at least in Scarborough's 42
Division. This brave move by police superintendent Gary Ellis makes 42
Division what I believe to be only the third police force in Canada to
publish the addresses of marijuana grow operations -- after London and
Calgary.

The listing of a total of 109 marijuana grow operations busted in 42
division last year is contained in the division's February 2006
Community Bulletin. It's on the website of the Toronto Police Service
at http://www.torontopolice.on.ca/d42. Click on "Latest Community
Bulletin" near the upper right corner of the screen.

The existence of the list came to light last week after I received an
email from Tom Brown outlining his close call with two local grow
house operations.

"I am about to buy my first house," Brown wrote, "and after looking
at a few properties settled on two choices to choose between...
Neither my agent, nor the listing agents warned me about grow houses,
nor did they tell me they had suspicions of these two places being
grow houses.

"Now I see both houses had the signs that I never noticed before --
hydro tampering, vent holes cut in the drywall. It was only after I
spent many hundreds of dollars on home inspections that I discovered
not one but both were marijuana grow houses. And not just a couple of
plants -- we are talking major grow-ops.

"Both agents pleaded no knowledge or suspicion (of course). Now the
homes are re-listed with a new selling agent, and no mention is made
on the http://www.mls.ca website about any problems.

"If it wasn't for a home inspection, I'd have never known, and the
owner would have my money ($300,000-plus worth of highly mortgaged
dollars).

"I think the lists of houses should be made public, and clauses put
in purchase agreements or else the city/police/etc. are just
protecting the growers and encouraging these grow-ops."

Brown's local city councillor in Ward 39 is Mike Del Grande. On his
website he publishes the street names of many grow-ops but not the
exact addresses. Del Grande referred me to the 42 Division website
where the 109 addresses are listed.

I was unable to locate a similar list on the websites of any other
division of the Toronto Police Service.

Last July, I suggested in this column that there should be public
disclosure of the addresses where police have found grow operations.
The typical answer I received in response is that the locations are
protected by federal and provincial privacy legislation, even though
London and Calgary police publish those lists on their websites.

Now that the Toronto police's 42 Division has effectively answered the
privacy argument, there can be no excuse for any Canadian police force
to refuse to publicize the locations of local grow houses.

In my view, the reasons for disclosure are grounded in public health
and safety. Alterations made to houses, apartments and condominiums
frequently affect the electrical wiring and the structural integrity
of the building. The mould resulting from the high humidity levels
needed for growing can permeate the walls and create a toxic
environment long after the new owners have moved in.

In Winnipeg, the local real estate board strongly supports the actions
of the Winnipeg Police Service in making public its list of identified
grow-ops. Whether the Toronto Real Estate Board follows suit remains
to be seen. I tried to reach TREB president John W. Meehan last week,
but he was away on holiday.

In any event, now that grow-op addresses have been made public for a
huge chunk of Scarborough, there can be no excuse for a real estate
agent failing to disclose whether a property was a marijuana grow
operation. Hopefully, the remaining Toronto police divisions will
follow suit.

Although real estate agents are obliged to disclose whether a house
has been a grow-op, vendors are not under any similar requirement
unless they are asked directly.

That's why I recommend that resale home offers always contain a clause
drafted by the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA).

The clause has the seller warrant and represent that the building was
not used for the growth or manufacture of any illegal substances
during his or her period of ownership, and that to the best of the
seller's knowledge and belief, the use of the property and the
buildings and structures thereon has never been for the growth or
manufacture of illegal substances.

Some day, OREA might even make the clause part of its standard
form.
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Bob Aaron is a Toronto real estate lawyer.