The following text may have been generated by Optical Character Recognition, with varying degrees of accuracy. Reader beware!

economist sunsuntribune police saturday april 102004 home buyers warned of effects of marijuana grow operations by martin derbyshire staff writer- you walk in and the over whelming stench of fertiliz er fills the air the walls are decaying from mould and moisture damage and unexplained holes are found throughout the basement the electrical panels are exposed and the makeshift wiring looks like a fire waiting to happen this home used to be a marijua na grow operation long after growers have picked up and moved on or the police have ripped out the plants and removed the hightech lighting and hydro- ponic equipment used to produce pot the evidence a house was once a clandestine drug lab remains in most cases marijuana grow ers rent the homes they use leaving the owner on the hook for tens of thousands of dollars in damages driving resale prices down and making the home tough to move according to york regional police det sgt karen noakes of the drugs and vice squad when it comes to disclosing whether it was a marijuana grow house its not that black and white however real estate lawyer lou radomsky who teaches a course for the ontario real estate association on how agents should handle grow home resales said the level of immediately visible damage inside a former grow home varies mould can go undetected because spores begin to form inside the walls first often only revealing itself months after a grow operation has been removed he said in a booming real estate market such as york regions that means unscrupulous homeowners looking to dump- the problem can sell quickly before the full extent of the damage is revealed to avoid being stuck with a home suffering the after effects of a grow operation mr radomsky says potential homebuyers should always have an inspection done you want to be as careful as possible here he explained peo ple will try and cover it up initial appearances of mould can be hid den by paint or it is behind the walls and wont come to the surface for a while the use of a qualified home inspector is always a good idea mr radomsky says laws are unclear and untested in the courts regarding owners and real estate agents responsibility in reporting a homes potgrowing past but rather than help hide the truth and saddle buyers with a for mer grow homes problems york region real estate board president al orlando said agents are encour aged to fulfill an ethical responsi bility to divulge the information once they do mr orlando said the seller is likely to take a loss on he property former grow houses are a lit tle tougher to sell and we definitely have to adjust the cost to reflect any necessary repairs he said it can be major issue bob mclean director of com munication for the ontario real estate association says as far as the law is concerned any damage known to a homeowner and agent whether its from a grow operation or not should always be declared to potential buyers any latent defects must be dis closed if a realtor knows theres excessive moisture or mould behind the walls they must dis close that but when it comes to dis closing whether it was a marijuana grow house its not that black and white he said if a buyer asks the question and the realtor has that information they have to disclose it but the problem is what is a grow house if my wife has indoor plants is that a grow house is it five plants 10 plants 100 plants where do we draw the line the important factor is the effect if any it had on the house itself and whether its from a grow op or not that has to be reported the provincial property infor mation statements which are com pleted by home sellers ask if a house has been used to grow or manufacture any illegal substance but with the stigma attached to grow ops and the potential of losing thousands of dollars in a sale dam aged or not mr mclean can only hope sellers are completely honest last year 173 grow labs were found in york region and police estimate there are 10000 across the greater toronto area but the increasing number of grow homes has yet to have a detri mental effect on the local real estate market according to mr orlando does it have a negative effect on the ability to sell a house absolutely but values across the entire market are not an issue right now he said to avoid a negative effect on housing prices in their neck of the- woods several suburbs surround ing vancouver where the grow home problem first sprouted in canada have partnered with police in attacking the grow house issue municipalities including abbotsford surrey langley and coquitlam have either passed or are considering bylaws that force homeowners to either clean up or have the cost of cleaning up grow operations added to the property tax bill the cost of police or fire services can also be included politicians in those municipali ties say the bylaws force landlords to keep a closer eye on what renters are up to and at the same time ensure a large number of former grow homes arent hitting the mar ket and driving prices down detsgt noakes said she believes a similar bylaws across york region would help police stamp out grow ops much like local body rub bylaws have helped stem the tide ofthose illegal businesses vaughan mayor michael di biase markham mayor don cousens and richmond hill regional councillor david barrow a member of the police services board all said although it was the first theyd heard of such bylaws they are interested in bringing sim ilar ones to their municipalities which have seen the most growth in grow homes recently i think were going to look at it very seriously said mr cousens anything we can do to help stop the proliferation of grow operations in our community we will do because its become endemic here world famous vuvk red hot wings ice cold beer yeehaw its finally dining room now fully licensed its playoff time go leafs go bring your friends family kids welcome no smoking cii afssske out licensed patio cozy fireplace oont 3g j chicken just wing it oi if wmv i just off mam ss umunviile in lite mtit shoppt plaza 20 l o naked vm flavoursr-