Be Safe as Houses
How Meth Contamination Affects
PROPERTY
PURCHASERS
Purchasing a property that is contaminated with Methamphetamine from the use of ICE by a previous occupant can leave you with remediation costs running into tens of thousands of dollars, leave you with a devalued property and harm your family's health.
Below are reasons why we suggest everyone TESTS the property before signing the contract.
Why you should TEST for Meth contamination
This small investment can literally save you thousands of dollars.
Imagine the following Scenario.
Mary and Jake recently purchased a property for their growing family. They undertook building inspections for white ants etc. but not for Methamphetamine contamination from previous drug use on the property.
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Previously they lived in a very expensive suburb where a home was raided by police and declared to be a Meth lab or Clan lab. That home was completely gutted, plaster, windows, woodwork, carpets, flooring, kitchen, bathroom, all removed. Costing thousands of dollars to remediate.
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They thought they had done their homework pre purchase and had checked with the agent regarding the presence of a clan lab or drug use. Whilst denying a clan lab was ever on the property the agent failed to disclose drug use by previous occupants which he and the owner were aware of.
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Shortly after moving in their children became ill and during a conversation with a neighbour the previous occupants drug related behaviour was exposed. Mary and Jake realised that the previous owner knew this and so did the agent.
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They had purchased a contaminated property that they could no longer live in and now they would have to remediate at their expense AND in addition they had lost all of the contents of the property as these were contaminated too and had to be destroyed.
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The costs for Mary and Jake are staggering in addition they will also be faced with:
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Having to vacate the premises otherwise they will be exposing their family to a very toxic substance
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Owning a property but having to find alternative accommodation and the expense related to this
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Unable to take their possessions with them as these are now also contaminated
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Having Meth within their own bodies and be in danger of losing their licence if subjected to a random drug test by police
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Knowing their children are now suffering from Meth contamination related symptoms
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Struggling to find a professional to remediate the property as there are numerous cowboys out there in what is an unregulated industry​
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Their insurance refuses to pay citing that it is not in their product disclosure statement.
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And all because they didn't test the property before purchasing.
ALWAYS TEST FOR METH CONTAMINATION
BEFORE YOU BUY
The best advice we can give is before you buy is to make enquiries, get the history of the property e.g. has it been rented. Talk to neighbours they are a great source of information on the previous occupants and then get the place tested. How? Follow this link.
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Be aware however that in a hot property market owners won't want to test. They will simply wait for an unsuspecting purchaser to come along. If they won't test then you MUST test. A few hundred dollars spent now is better than many thousands later on.
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Remember though losing a property because the owner won't accept testing is really a GOOD THING. It means even they are concerned it could be or they actually know it is contaminated. Either way you don't want your dream home to turn into a nightmare that costs you hundreds of thousands of dollars to fix and harms your families health into the bargain. If they won't test then look elsewhere.
The agent told me it was a clan lab and had been remediated. It should be safe then?
Not necessarily.
We are not saying you can't believe the agent or the owner. Read the scenario to see how even an honest agent and owner can be tricked by disreputable people in this industry.
Scenario:
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Leonie* buys a home that had been repossessed by the bank. The bank had paid for it to be remediated and had a certificate to prove it had been completed and the house was safe for habitation. Surely its safe and she does not have to have it retested.
In this case after purchasing a 'cheap' house Leonie decides to double check. She doesn't want to put any tenants in harm's way. She approaches a reputable company who come and do extensive testing in the property. The property is still contaminated. How can this be?
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The company who provided the initial forensic tests and the follow up all clear tests was affiliated with the cleaning company.
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The initial tests were not undertaken correctly.
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Only areas of the property that had been tested were cleaned and even then, not appropriately, leaving areas of the property that were not tested still contaminated.
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The cleaned areas were re-tested for the final report bit again not tested properly giving false results.
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The property was then deemed to be habitable when in fact it wasn't.
Leonie now has an expensive battle with
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the bank, who state the property was clean when handed to her
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the insurance company who won't pay
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the cleaning company who denies responsibility
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the forensic tester who also denies responsibility
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As long as the industry remains unregulated and uninsured it will be difficult to obtain reputable assistance and testing. That is why you need to test yourself.