GROW-OPS, DRUG LABS NOW MUST BE DISCLOSED TO NEW OWNERS

Selling a home that's been used as a drug lab or marijuana growing operation
will now be a lot more difficult thanks to changes made this week by the
B.C. Real Estate Association.

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

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

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

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

Herman said there are an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 marijuana grow ops in
the province.

Marijuana grow ops and drug labs can cause extensive damage to a home and
expose it to toxic chemicals. Since the disclosure statement is part of the
legal contract of sale, this could provide an avenue for buyers who make a
discovery after the sale has completed to sue the previous owner, Herman
said.

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 willful 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."

B.C. Solicitor General Rich Coleman, who heads up the province's residential
tenancy branch, said Friday that he's prepared to make changes to ensure
tenants are protected too.

"I think it's fair ball that that should be disclosed. I'm prepared to add
that to the standard form tenancy agreement. I'll be asking my staff to look
at how to do that."

Coleman said a recent series of changes were made to the Residential Tenancy
Act, which included giving owners the right to evict tenants for illegal
activity. This was done with grow ops in mind.