Home buyers expect realtors to know about meth labs

Home buyers expect that realtors know about homes that have been used as meth labs. Yet, many realtors don’t know much about them, according to what I’ve seen posted on 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.

Woman who bought a meth lab home from HUD sues and wins

In January 2003, police arrested 3 people for running a meth lab in a four bedroom home in Colorado Springs. By March of 2003, the home went in to foreclosure. None of which, thirty-three year old, Denise Yokum, knew when she secured two loans totaling $108.600 to buy it as a HUD house in August of 2003.

Denise, like thousands of other home buyers, was full of dreams the day she bought her new home. She began working on the home, the very day it officially became hers. She could hardly wait to make it a welcoming place for her young son. She could hardly wait to make part of it in to a day care center. But, her dreams became her nightmare, two days after she became its new owner 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