Meth Lab contamination

A very hot topic in regard to rental properties both in Australia and New Zealand has been damage caused by Meth Labs. This is something we are dealing with all the time, and there is a lot of possibly ill-founded information floating around, so I thought it would be of interest to forum members (who don't receive our RentCover Report) to see a recent article which attempts to dispel some myths. You can view the article here.

 

Great article. Thanks for sharing. Yikes!

 

@David Shih interesting read. Something you can relate too?

 

*Shakes head*....regulate, tax and divert (to health services) - this is my belief for pretty much all drug use (be it caffeine, alcohol or whatever)

 

Hell yea, especially just coming out of it...thankfully EBM did cover pretty much everything.

 

What a terrible article!
Absolutely no information on how to build a safe and efficient meth lab

 

Hi guys! We have a house in Forest Lake and the tenants have just called our PM saying that they are starting to see black marks show up on the walls. Their friend (who is a painter) advised them that the marks are either marks from smoking meth in the house or making drugs in the house.

The tenants are now concerned for their health (which I totally understand) and will be conducting a drug test. After speaking with my PM, they advised is the test conducted shows high levels of chemicals then we will have to terminate the tenancy without penalties and have the property stripped of the substances which could cost up to $30,000.00. Is this correct?

Also, should the history of the house be explained to us by the agent? I'm starting to feel a little cheated by when we purchased. We did purchase the property from the bank and now starting to understand why it was painted and new carpets put in if this does come to be true.

eems like you've gone through something similar?

 

Or might just be mould or mildew.

 

I am hoping for this outcome. The house was re-painted just before we purchased in February this year. The marks are starting to appear now in the bedroom.

 

I just received a message from my PM who got in contact with the agent who sold us the property. He said that the property was empty and was a bank sale so I am assuming did not know the history. Fingers crossed for a positive outcome. This is our first IP and It's becoming a heck of a first property so far.

 

I think I am about to go through something similar. Thankfully I am with EBM too.

Update: I spoke with the police station to find out if the property we purchased had any history of drugs, she said she could not disclose in too much detail the information about past tenants/owners but asked for the address and she would look this up on the computer. As soon as I mentioned the address - she said "Yup, I did not need to look up that address, I already know - that address was on our radar as high alert for drugs" - So I am now confident that the marks that the tenants are seeing come up are most probably going to be marks from drugs.

The agent that we purchased the property from, left unexpectedly and not with any notice after we had signed the contract. I thought this was very strange considering we were in the middle of contract signing but did not think anything of it until now. Could this have been the reason why? Did he wanted to make a quick sale? Surely for this to be a bank sale, the bank would have known the history of it. Makes sense now as to why the place was re-painted fresh with new carpets. Was it to hide all this?

Having a read online it states that any material facts should be disclosed to the buyers and if it was a a meth lab/house this is still considered a material fact. Does anyone know much information about this?

I've contacted my solicitor as I am not too sure if we should/can take this further.

 

What would make you suspect your property was being used as a meth lab?
What would make a property a good place to have a meth lab?

 

The house was just re-painted before we purchased the property in February. The tenants have started to see black marks form on some of the walls in the bedroom. They had a friend (who is a painter) go and have a look and he suspected that it was marks which come up when the house was used to either smoke meth or make drugs.

With that, we rang up the police station to find out the history and the officer told us that that house was known for drugs and was on their high radar. So with finding this information, the tenants have are getting a drug test done to the property and I would suspect that will come up positive with knowing the information we know now.

I am not too sure what you mean by your second questions 'What would make a property a good place to have a meth lab?'

 

Would the neighbours notice odours from making meth? Thinking units/flats, inner city houses, rural properties.
How much equipment is needed? How much space is needed for supplies to make the stuff?

 

Yes, the tenancy contract will be terminated automatically if the house is no longer fit to live in. The agent may not have known, drugs testing unfortunately should be something to consider as part of due diligence. Hopefully your insurer can help.

 

No. Often these places keep to them selves, and keep quiet to avoid detection.

 

Houses in a middle class neighbourhood. Somewhere that the police are less likely to patrol often.

 

You can get drug testing kits for $100 for any house prior to purchase.

 

‘Drugs’ can mean all sorts of things - a few dope plants in the vege garden, ecstacy tablets, heroin to name a few. Not just ice!

Did the police actually specify ‘ice’ and did they say it was a drugs lab?

Did they actually arrest anyone or was it just an admin person/constable ‘big noting..?