A year ago the Minnesota Association of REALTORS added the Methamphetamine Disclosure to our pile of required listing forms. The form is amusing to me because it asks the seller to disclose an illegal activity if it was happening in their house. Now, no self respecting crook who is worthy of crookdom should acknowledge there has been a meth lab in their home if they haven't already been busted. But that's what the form requires.
It was my privilege this week to show my first "meth lab" house. Obviously the house had been gutted, sealed, reinsulated, re-sheetrocked, etc. It had been re-tested and came up clean as a whistle. There would be no problem for the next owner from any undisclosed drug substances. They were all gone.
The neighborhood didn't concern me either. As is often the case, this little house was nestled in a quiet neighborhood with well cultivated yards on either side. The people next door probably had no clue until the traffic started and the cops finally came.
My concern for my buyer client, however, was what happens if they buy the house and a few weeks after possession, some drug needy person comes to the door looking for a source? Rational people accept a no, but sometimes drugs make people irrational. If this is their last resort for getting what they need, will they accept that the new owners know nothing about the former owner and his drugs? This is one of those things that I discuss with my clients. If they're willing to knowingly take the risk, then we go forward. At least they have been warned of the potential for unsavory confrontation in the future.
There was a funny meth t-shirt on the Property Monger today as well. http://www.spotlightre.com/blog/?p=61# He saw my post and did some research. Meth is nothing to take lightly.
Posted by: Bonnie Erickson | September 19, 2006 at 09:44 PM
Did you see the meth house T-shirt on Active Rain? Can't tell you who but it was funny. It shouldn't be... but it was.
Posted by: Maureen McCabe | September 19, 2006 at 10:46 AM