REAL ESTATE SELLERS MUST NOW DISCLOSE GROW-OPS, DRUG LAB USE

Selling a home that's been used as a drug lab or marijuana growing
operation will be a lot harder thanks to changes with B.C. Real Estate
Association.

Last week, the association announced it will change its property disclosure
statement-part of all real estate transactions-to include two questions
(one for residential properties, the other for strata titles) to identify
if the home has been used to grow or manufacture illegal drugs.

Police believe the move will encourage owners to keep a closer tab on
properties because a drug manufacturing history will impact property value.
It also creates another headache for criminals, some of whom actually build
houses with the intent to grow drugs and then sell the property.

B.C. Real Estate Association president David Herman said realtors want safe
communities, and this is a step in the right direction.

"Hopefully this will help (police) with their work on this front."

Herman believes there are 20,000 marijuana grow ops in the province. Grow
ops and drug labs can cause extensive damage to a home and expose it to
toxic chemicals.

Since disclosure is a legal contract of sale, it could provide an avenue
for buyers who make a discovery after the sale to sue the previous owner.

"We had a lot of positive feedback about this step not just from our real
estate boards, but from the public," Herman said

Herman cautioned homebuyers still perform independent inspections of
properties they are considering.

The idea to add illegal drug labs to the disclosure form, Herman said, came
from a suggestion made by Richmond RCMP Supt. Ward Clapham.

"I think it will have a huge impact in the area of wilful blindness,"
Clapham said, referring to property owners who ignore what's happening
inside their rentals. "Now there's a responsibility for them that wasn't
there before."

"Hat's off to the real estate board for helping us out dealing with this
problem."

While this move protects home buyers, renters are left out in the cold as
landlords are not required to inform them of a property's drug-related history.

Clapham would like to see renters protected and informed the same way
buyers will be.