With the popularity of methamphetamine rising and if you own rental property, you just may have to deal with the remnantsof a clandestine drug lab. I attended a class this week where this was one of the topics. This topic isn't important to only landlords, but to realtors as well. I want to share what I learned, even though most of the information will be with Idaho in mind, I think every Realtor will gain from it.
The chemicals that are used to manufacture meth will adhere to most everything. Even with small amounts of contaminants in the carpet, walls, and on the fixtures, the home can be highly toxic. The ingrediants can literally eat a persons skin...
This guy got some of the chemicals on his back side...
If a home has been a site of a meth lab, you can either have the home torn down and the rubble taken to a toxic waste dump...or you can have the home cleaned up. There are guidelines to how a home is to be cleaned up.
Idaho has passed a law that gives the Idaho Health and Welfare department the authority to develop a program that lists homes that have been used as a meth lab. Once a property has been properly cleaned up, the home will be taken off the list.
They say that once a place has been cleaned up, then it is totally safe to live there, but as a realtor, we need to disclose all the facts! Here is the website to go to if you are in Idaho and have questions.
http://www.healthandwelfare.idaho.gov/site/3660/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabid=3660
This site will give you a list of clean-up crews serving Idaho,guidelines for cleaning up formar meth sites, lists of property that is on the list of homes that are subject to a clean up, and even a list of qualified industrial hygienists in the area.
And remember.. If you go into a home and you think things just aren't right, LEAVE!..Just go...
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