2009 Foreclosures: Home Buyers warned about meth labs

Close to 3 million homes were at risk of being foreclosed on in 2009, an increase of 21% over 2008, according to a new report on foreclosures by ABC News. In fact, the reports says that “One in 45 homes were sent a filing, which includes default notices, scheduled foreclosure auctions and bank repossessions.” And if Rick Sharga, senior vp of RealtyTrac is right, 3 to 3.5 million more homes will begin the foreclosure process in 2010.

If you’re thinking it’s a great time to get a house at a rock bottom price, you’re right, that is, if Read more

Renter gets sick after living in bank repo meth lab home

My boys and I moved into a rental the end of June of this year.  The owner layed new carpet and new laminant (fake wood) flooring throughout the house except the bathrooms and Read more

Single mom Andrea Wagner buys contaminated meth lab home

Stow, Ohio: Andrea Wagner bought a meth lab home on Meadowbrook Boulevard for $147,000,in January 2006, not knowing that she was buying a home contaminated with meth lab chemicals. The seller, who bought the home at a Sheriff’s auction never told her Read more

Meth lab pictures for renters, realtors, home owners, home buyers

Pictures of meth labs can help renters and home owners can help them identify a meth lab home, just by observing the inside and outside of the home. Pictures are not the only way to identify a meth lab however, as there is no standard situation when it comes to meth labs. But, these pictures may help you to become familiar with some of what you might see inside and outside of a property that is being used or has been used to manufacture methamphetamine.

This is by no means a complete list and is only presented here as another tool to help you identify a “possible” meth lab scene. If you do not see any similarities between these pictures and your home, you should not assume that your home was never a meth lab. If neighbors tell you that they suspect that the previous occupants of your home had drug problems, listen to what they’re telling you! Also, call the police and the health department and ask them if they have any records about your home.

Keep in mind that meth lab clean up contractors say that very few homes that have been used to make meth have ever been busted and/or placed on a quarantined list.

Neighbors may, in fact know more about a house and its occupants, than the police or the health department.  Talk to neighbors who have lived in the neighborhood for a long time – the longer the better.

Lastly, know that the only way to positively identify meth contamination in your house is to have the home tested  for the chemicals used to make meth.

Chemical stains on flooring

Chemical staining on walls and floors often result when chemicals spill during the meth cook.  Floors and carpets are often stained or damaged by meth chemicals that can include liquids such as hydrochloric acid. A former meth lab may also have brand new flooring and carpets, which can signal that the previous flooring was damaged because of meth lab chemical spills.

Fixer-upper buyers beware! Also, keep in mind that meth lab homes may look brand new and not show any of the damages you see in the pictures listed here. Unscrupulous sellers who buy meth lab homes at rock bottom prices often cover stains with carpeting and new flooring and paint walls to minimize any questions or concerns about the home from prospective buyers or renters.

Burned grass or vegetation

Meth lab cooks may cook meth outdoors or burn empty pseudoephedrine packages or blister packaging for cold, allergy, and sinus medicines, to avoid raising the suspicion of anyone seeing the tell-tale meth signs in their trash. Cooking outdoors is remote locations in another way to avoid being detected by neighbors who may smell the chemicals they’re cooking. Cooking outdoors also keeps their homes from getting contaminated or exposing their children to the hazardous chemicals they’re cooking with.  If you see burn pits, stained soil or dead vegetation it may indicate areas where meth lab chemicals have been dumped.

Kitty Litter

Kitty Litter is often used by meth lab cooks to soak up spilled chemicals.  In the first picture, a meth lab cook uses this kitty litter container as part of their meth manufacturing process. Tubing is commonly found at meth labs, where it is often connected to a variety of containers.

Do you see kitty litter in unusual locations? It could indicate that someone used it to absorb a chemical spill.

Housekeeping

When someone is addicted to meth, meth is ALL THAT MATTERS.  The effect of meth on users makes it difficult for them to get organized and keep the kind of focus it would take to keep their house neat and tidy.

Renters who are using meth and/or making meth will try to avoid having their landlord come in to inspect their home, due to its condition and to prevent the landlord from seeing anything that might evoke questions.  Neighbors and other visitors are also avoided by meth lab cooks, for the same reasons.

Windows  are often  covered or blacked-out to keep prying eyes from seeing inside.

Strange Plumbing

Strange plumbing, vent systems, and/or  electrical connections in a house should make you question why someone would have a plumbing, wiring, or electrical system like that in their house, basement, attic, or garage. Could the plumbing be installed to make it easier to dump chemicals without being detected by anyone outside of the house?

Could venting systems be installed in basements to vent out meth lab fumes? Are electrical outlets or wiring found in weird places?

Glassware

Police often find different types of  glassware in meth labs, including glass bottles, jugs, and glass cooking containers.

Colorado Health Department tells home owner to use bulldozer on his meth lab home

Tim Young’s realtor told him that the home he was thinking about buying from them had once been a meth lab. But, they also told him that it had been cleaned and it was perfectly safe to live in. It wasn’t.

Tim has asked me to share his meth lab home experience with you through his words and pictures.  His hope is that by sharing his story, others might be able to avoid the tremendous losses that he and his mother have had to endure.

Here is Tim Young’s experience with meth lab homes, in his own words. Read more

National Clandestine Meth Lab Registries: Facts and Fiction

I’m thinking about buying a home, but worry that it might have been a former meth lab. I’ve already checked the DEA website list of meth lab busts and I don’t see it listed there. Is it safe for me to buy it?

If a home or apartment that you are thinking about buying or renting has not been recorded by the DEA, DO NOT assume that the home was never used as a meth lab. The government does not require states to provide them with meth lab bust information, so the list provided by the DEA should not be considered complete.

*If you are searching for a meth lab home on the Internet, keep this in mind: Read more

Contaminated Meth lab homes still being sold in Colorado

CBS4 reports that some Coloradans may not know they are living in former meth lab:

“Some Coloradans may be living in a home that once contained a drug lab and not even know it. As part of a year-long investigation, CBS4 News has obtained, through open records requests, governmental lists of properties that contained methamphetamine labs that were never cleaned up. CBS4 Investigator Rick Sallinger found people living in homes that may still be contaminated with meth. Governmental agencies failed to inform them, and unscrupulous homeowners sold the properties without warning Read more

Meth Lab home clues that you should know

Meth labs can be set up just about anywhere. They’ve been found in cars, trailers, homes, hotel rooms, and outdoors. Increasingly, meth cooks are using a technique known as the “one-pot” method which doesn’t require a heat source. When you’re shopping for a new home or looking for a new apartment, be on the alert for signs of a meth lab.

Here are some signs that you should look for: Read more

Where Can You Find a Meth Lab?

Illegal meth laboratories can be set up wherever activities may be hidden from view, often in locations that are especially dangerous to children, such as sleeping areas, eating areas where food is also stored and prepared, and garages.

These makeshift labs and their dangerous components (for example, chemical containers and electrical wiring) have been discovered in Read more

Lender’s Nightmare: Meth Lab Homes

The Denver Post. Com reports that meth lab homes are a problem for lenders. A grandmother who was cooking meth in her kitchen was arrested and put in jail. The savings and loan that had originally loaned her the money to buy the house then foreclosed on the house, when her Read more