REALTORS TARGET GROW-OPS

As more and more grow operations are busted in Maple Ridge and Pitt
Meadows, and more residential homes are used to raise marijuana for resale,
real estate agents are stepping up with a plan to educate their ranks on
the dangers of reselling these grow houses.

Sometimes it's not as simple as walking into a house and detecting the
distinctly-pungent aroma of marijuana, and the Real Estate Board of Greater
Vancouver and the Fraser Valley Real Estate Board have joined forces to
help realtors deal with a growing incidence of grow ops in this country's
residential real estate.

The awareness campaign, sponsored by the Canadian Real Estate Association,
aims to ensure that realtors understand the dangers of grow houses,
recognize the apparent signs of operation and are able to inform buyers of
the implications of buying a building used to grow the drug.

"The increased use of a private home to grow marijuana has been a growing
concern for realtors throughout the lower mainland," said Stephanie
Corcoran, Greater Vancouver board president. "It is the professional
responsibility of the realtor to know the defects that can develop because
a house has been used as a Grow House, and to explain them to a potential
buyer or seller."

According to Ridge Meadows RCMP Cpl. Rhonda Stoner, modifications to homes
that are turned into grow ops can range from minor electrical modifications
to extensive plumbing, structural and a bypass of the electrical metering
system that can lead to injury, or even death. There are also potential
health problems from mold that can form due to increased moisture levels.

"They requires some form of watering system, so piping (is
changed)...Different dry walling can be installed or taken down...Homes are
greatly damaged, and they can take up carpeting and board up windows,"
Stoner listed as just some of the obstacles a realtor or home-buyer could
face. "So there is a great danger to the home as well as people that come
in contact with it"

Pitt Meadows Coun. Randy Cooke a local realtor, said although he hasn't yet
sold a home that was used as a grow op, the problem is a very real one to
local agents.

"Our division in Maple Ridge and Pitt Meadows has been very proactive in
educating realtors," he said, adding real estate agents are required to
submit a source for all large cash transactions used to buy a home or the
mortgages would not be approved. As for the health risks due to home
modifications, Cooke said a home inspection can usually ensure any safety
risks are addressed, but admitted there would be a hit in price if the
house was found to have been used as a grow home.

According to Police estimates provided by the real estate board, there were
about 10,000 grow houses in the greater Vancouver area as of October. The
board's campaign includes material for realtors to help them recognize a
potential grow house in operation. According to the release, realtors are
involved in their community and aware of the goings-on by the nature of
their business, and "can help police through the identification or
reporting of suspicious transactions or suspicious activity."

Stoner said grow ops are often hard to spot after a former owner has
dismantled the operation, and added the local RCMP Strike Force doesn't
have the resources to record, bust and dismantle every operations in Maple
Ridge and Pitt Meadows.

"Some can be cleaned out and maybe there's just an odour, but there can be
anything from fertilizer to plant pots kicking around," she explained. "We
get Crimestoppers tips all the time, and often don't have resources to
investigate. We only have a small strike force in the area that couldn't
possibly get to each grow."