Should the government have the 90,000 foreclosed homes that it owns tested for meth if it rents or sells them? Considering the fact that close to 2.5 million homes in the U.S. are thought to be contaminated by toxic meth lab chemicals and exposure to those chemicals is a public health threat, the answer to that question is crystal clear to me. They should absolutely test these homes to make sure they are not contaminated with meth lab chemicals.
Vacant homes, whether they’re “for sale” or they’re just sitting idle, are becoming increasingly popular with meth cooks, leaving the government with a significant problem. Using a vacant home to make meth provides meth cooks with several advantages. They don’t contaminate their own home. They avoid arousing the suspicions of the people in their own neighborhood. They don’t expose their children to their illegal activities, thereby avoiding additional charges of child endangerment should they get caught. They also avoid blowing up their own house, if their meth lab explodes.
The government, according to ABC News, is now at a loss about what to do with the tens of thousands of homes they have foreclosed on. One option would be to sell them. Another option would be to rent them. Still another option would be to demolish them. My advice would be to get them tested for meth chemicals, like they test for lead, and then sell the ones that test “clean”. For the homes that prove to be contaminated, they’ll need to weigh the cost of having them decontaminated over the cost of having the home demolished. If they opt to rent the properties, they should figure in the recurring costs of having the home tested for meth every time a renter moves out. Additionally, they should consider how much it’s going to cost them if a renter makes meth in the home they rent from them.
Personally, I’d opt not to rent out my property, considering that current laws make the property owner responsible for paying the cost of having their property decontaminated, rather than making the person who contaminated it responsible to pay those costs. Most meth cooks don’t have the money to pay the tens of thousands of dollars that it takes to decontaminated a former meth lab home. Let’s face it. You can’t get blood from a stone – even if you’re the government. My advice to the government is to do the responsible thing with your property: test, decontaminate or demolish – if need be, disclose, and sell!
Loading tweets...
Katherine Doughty
In 2004 my husband and I purchased a government foreclosure. After several years of digging we found out the previous owner had a meth lab. One of the neighbors told us they spent two weeks cleaning up the property. The woman also had a fire buring all the time.
Earlier this year, my husband was diagnosed with Testicular Cancer. The doctors believe it was the exposure to the house. My husband also has dizzinies and severe headaches. I have miagrianes, inslulin resistance, sinus problems, and severe insomnia. We also feel like we live in a fog and have memory problems. Even though we are unemployed, we still pay for daycare for our daughter so she is not exposed to all this.
Unfortunately, even if we had known, we could not walk away from the house. When you purchase a government forclosure the only way out is if you can not get financing secured. Since you have to be preapproved this almost never happens. Even if you manage to get out of it, you will loose your ernest deposit.
We have contacted every government agency we can think of trying to get our house tested. We keep getting the runaround. Yesterday we were contacted by the local news organization, who is putting together a piece about meth lab homes. We are hoping this will raise awareness on the issue.
It has been a nightmare. We sealed up the air leaks in our home and it made the problem worse. Because our central ac/heat is contaminated (the valves are bent in the compressor as a result of the meth dust) we used our fireplace last winter. One night, about 2am we heard an explosion, one of the glass doors on the fire place exploded. The door is made of tempered glass. Also we had to install 3 window units, now we have mold. Our house was moved in here and no vapor barriers were put under the house. The house is sinking into the ground and a couple of piers are trying to overturn.
We no longer allow people in our home. We do not want them to become ill, also. This house has become a nightmare.
My advice to people looking to buy government foreclosures is to AVOID them at all costs. You may be buying a whole lot of health problems.
Laura
Hi Katherine,
My husband and I just put an offer on a government foreclosure house, and I was wondering if you could answer some questions for me. Didn’t you have a 10 day home inspection where you could get out of it (had you known)? Our real estate agent also said we will have a 3 day “neighborhood inspection” period where we can back out if we don’t like the neighborhood. They have also said our earnest money is refundable. Why would this be different for government homes? Does this vary state by state?
Today I heard from a neighbor that one of the houses across the street used to be a meth lab. We are now worried about whether or not that house could have sent meth chemicals across the street and into our house. We plan on getting it tested during our home inspection period.
I wish you the best of luck in finding a solution to the horrible mess that you are in.
Sincerely,
Laura
Katherine Doughty
The process is completely different for government homes. The house went on the market on a Thursday and bidding closed on Monday. You submitt a bid to HUD whoever submits the highest bid purchases the house. When you submit your bid you also submit your ernest deposit. You can not get the money refunded. The house is sold as is. You can get it inspected, if you find something wrong you are suppose to negotiate the repairs of the purchase price. Unfortunately our real estate agent failied to disclose this and the foundation is collapsing and the wiring is way below code. We did pay for an inpsection a friend of the real estate agent who was supposedly liscenced. Suprise supise he wasn’t liscensed, he was doing home warrently inspections.
jwow
What about the city of DesMoine, Wa covering up the meth labs down in the woods.
That would have cost the city an arm and a leg and would slow down the production of the new Jail.
Score!! I wonder how many children and adults have symptoms from all the meth labs buried in the dirt out there still.?