GROW OPS, DRUG LABS TO BE DISCLOSED IN HOME SALES

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

On Friday, 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 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.

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

Herman cautioned that homebuyers should still perform an independent
inspection of properties they are considering.

The idea to add 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.

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

While this move will protect homebuyers, landlords are not required to
inform renters of a property's history regarding grow ops and drug labs.

In one case last month, a family who had recently moved into a rental home
was victimized by a group of grow rippers who kicked in the house's front
door around dinner time. The house had a marijuana grow-op history, but
that information was never relayed to the family, who said they never would
have rented the place had they known.

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 as well.

"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."

The Canadian Real Estate Association pitched the idea of changes to the
property disclosure form early last year. In December, the Greater
Vancouver and Fraser Valley Real Estate Boards urged the association to
consider those changes.