Ontario Realtors favour grow-op registry bill
The Ontario Real Estate Association is welcoming a private member’s bill before Queen’s Park that calls for the creation of a grow-op registry – a move Realtors say will protect homebuyers.
“Grow-ops are major problem for homebuyers in the province and we have been urging the Ontario government to establish a registry to protect consumers for almost 10 years,” the association’s President Dorothy Mason said in a news release published Nov. 25.
While Realtors are required by law to disclose if a home has been used as a marijuana-grow operation or drug laboratory, they are hindered by the lack of central registry.
Many times these homes receive cosmetic renovations to “disguise the fact they were marijuana-grow operations and consumers unknowingly purchase these homes,” the release states.
Drug manufacturing can cause physical damage to homes, such as mould and chemical contamination, while structural and electrical wiring alterations made to run a drug operation are potential fire hazards.
Having these problems can lead to a loss of insurance and “exorbitantly high remediation costs,” the associations says.
Progressive Conservative MPP Lisa MacLeod’s private member’s bill, or Bill 139: the Clandestine Drug Operation Prevention Act, 2010, would complement a law passed in 2006 that requires all Ontario Realtors to disclose if a home has been used for drug operations or face an administrative fine and the possible loss of their license.
The law is administered by the Real Estate Council of Ontario.
"..... the only safeguard in place to inform consumers if their soon-to-be new homes were formerly used as grow-ops is nothing more than the well-trained eyes of their Realtor and/or home inspector.
In many cases, however, former grow-op homes are given a series of cosmetic fixes that disguise the fact they were once used as a grow-op. Canadian Real Estate Magazine"
http://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/news/75739/details.aspx
David Pylyp So you are a buyer and you want to score on a fixer upper. You need to know before you buy to estimate the cost of repair or remediation required to render a home suitable to RE habitate. [Toronto real estate] What if the previous owner repainted and masked all the defects? How will you know?
First you need to obtain air particulate mass report with clear conclusive evidence that mold does not exist in the house (has already been removed BEFORE ESA) or no other agency will enetr to inspect. Mold remediation based on what is in the house may require suits and masks. (workplace safety issues)
Requiring an ESA inspection by Hydro may get your power turned back on but you have not dealt with outstanding fines, paying all hydro bills up to date.
Purchasing and financing a POST grow op is at 50% of land value regardless of existing structure. Insurance is difficult to obtain.
No matter how well you have fixed the house, you must delare the past events keep the receipts and prove the remediation and reinspections were all completed. This stigma will continue for the next owner. For ever and ever.
By what percentage does that diminish value?
Do houses with Urea formaldehyde still have stigma?
What are your thoughts?
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