I recently found out that my rental home was being used as a grow-op. Went into the house and there is mold growing on the walls, ceiling, etc... Does anyone have any experience or advice in cleaning up such a mess??? Is the house salvageable?
Fixing a Grow-op
- Thread starter shinder
- Start date
Good one Brandi!
Unfortunately for you Shinder, Brandi is essentially correct if your walls are covered in mold. This means the moisture has likely saturated your structure and mold issues have become forefront in terms of health issues
. How's the furnace (forced air?) in the house, did they tear that apart to use it as a blower? If the damage is contained in just one room, then you're probably OK. Just make sure that there isn't mold in all the other areas of the house. Check the base of the windows, is there condensation with mold?
In any extent you should probably get it checked out by a professional restoration company even though you'll pay through your nose. Insurance will not back you up as it is now required that the landlord/ agent check their rental homes every so often. Most importantly though, you'll have to properly address the mold as there can be future liability issues should it just be covered up and someone else gets sick due to undisclosed mold........
Good luck!
Unfortunately for you Shinder, Brandi is essentially correct if your walls are covered in mold. This means the moisture has likely saturated your structure and mold issues have become forefront in terms of health issues
. How's the furnace (forced air?) in the house, did they tear that apart to use it as a blower? If the damage is contained in just one room, then you're probably OK. Just make sure that there isn't mold in all the other areas of the house. Check the base of the windows, is there condensation with mold? In any extent you should probably get it checked out by a professional restoration company even though you'll pay through your nose. Insurance will not back you up as it is now required that the landlord/ agent check their rental homes every so often. Most importantly though, you'll have to properly address the mold as there can be future liability issues should it just be covered up and someone else gets sick due to undisclosed mold........
Good luck!
Well, if you can't beat 'em, join 'em...
Just start growing weed yourself... you've already got the location, what else do you need? A little dirt and you're set.
Either that, or just rent it out to someone you know is going to grow dope. Since the damage is done, not much else will riun the home. You can charge double rent too.
Just start growing weed yourself... you've already got the location, what else do you need? A little dirt and you're set.
Either that, or just rent it out to someone you know is going to grow dope. Since the damage is done, not much else will riun the home. You can charge double rent too.
Seller Declarations
I'm told that if and when you sell, even if you clean it up, get it inspected by the municipality, you still have to declare that the house was a grow-op, even if it's 15 years down the road. It is a serious hit on market-value, what with everyone being concerned about the health issues associated with mold.
I'm told that if and when you sell, even if you clean it up, get it inspected by the municipality, you still have to declare that the house was a grow-op, even if it's 15 years down the road. It is a serious hit on market-value, what with everyone being concerned about the health issues associated with mold.
You could submit specific questions (after searching to see if the answers are not there already...) to Tim:
http://www.AskTheBuilder.com
http://www.AskTheBuilder.com
You never know who you're dealing with...
I rented a house back in 1998 to a nice fellow who was always on time with his rent, showed up with the cash in an impeccable Armani suit with his 7-yr old daughter in tow, and was polite to a fault. He was in there for six months before I received a call from the RCMP telling me they were on their way to bust the premises within the hour. I raced over there to find LE had already opened up the house, and arrested him as he was on his way down the street, with a loaded automatic pistol on the front seat next to him.
Fortunately, the operation was a dry grow-op (as opposed to hydroponic), but he had 700 plants in various stages of growth. The house was a completely converted, climate controlled production facility with all stages from sprouting, automatic irrigation, to packaging. He had installed a very large diesel generator in the garage, which allowed him to supplement the over-taxed electrical system. Damage in the end amounted to $45,000, not including rental losses for the four month period the house was out of the rental market. Thankfully, my insurance policy was one of the rare ones that covered this loss. Otherwise, it would have been an even greater mess.
One footnote for you ganja consumers out there. These operations have a very high pestilence problem to deal with and the growers are quite pragmatic in dealing with it. They do so by treating the plants with a heavy dose of highly toxic and carcinogenic sprays that are not recommended for use on substances consumed my humans. These sprays are absorbed by human tissue and accumulate over time with ominous consequences. The long term effects can result in nervous system and/or brain damage, many different types of pernicious cancers and fetal compromises. Those warnings are listed on the many empty cans that were left around on the premises. The plants are most certainly not cleaned before they are packaged (why bother?) and shipped off, and as the toxins are systemically absorbed by the plants anyway, attempting to do so would be futile at best.
Like I said, you just never know who you're dealing with nowadays...
I rented a house back in 1998 to a nice fellow who was always on time with his rent, showed up with the cash in an impeccable Armani suit with his 7-yr old daughter in tow, and was polite to a fault. He was in there for six months before I received a call from the RCMP telling me they were on their way to bust the premises within the hour. I raced over there to find LE had already opened up the house, and arrested him as he was on his way down the street, with a loaded automatic pistol on the front seat next to him.
Fortunately, the operation was a dry grow-op (as opposed to hydroponic), but he had 700 plants in various stages of growth. The house was a completely converted, climate controlled production facility with all stages from sprouting, automatic irrigation, to packaging. He had installed a very large diesel generator in the garage, which allowed him to supplement the over-taxed electrical system. Damage in the end amounted to $45,000, not including rental losses for the four month period the house was out of the rental market. Thankfully, my insurance policy was one of the rare ones that covered this loss. Otherwise, it would have been an even greater mess.
One footnote for you ganja consumers out there. These operations have a very high pestilence problem to deal with and the growers are quite pragmatic in dealing with it. They do so by treating the plants with a heavy dose of highly toxic and carcinogenic sprays that are not recommended for use on substances consumed my humans. These sprays are absorbed by human tissue and accumulate over time with ominous consequences. The long term effects can result in nervous system and/or brain damage, many different types of pernicious cancers and fetal compromises. Those warnings are listed on the many empty cans that were left around on the premises. The plants are most certainly not cleaned before they are packaged (why bother?) and shipped off, and as the toxins are systemically absorbed by the plants anyway, attempting to do so would be futile at best.
Like I said, you just never know who you're dealing with nowadays...
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you're house is fucked the dry wall has to be torn out carpets the celing mold is not a easy thing to get rid of. you have to gut the hole house. this is the only way i have seen this problem lots hope you have insurance
In fact, the City will not issue a re-occupancy permit until it has been rated safe by the Health Dept., and the main thing they are concerned about is those pesky moulds. Some of them, particularly the slimy ones in hydroponic operations are highly toxic, even to a mere accidental contact.BYSON said:
Wrong! As of seven years ago I believe, grow-ops are considered an automatic exclusion due to criminal activity, and Insurance companies no longer cover damages from such claims. Landlords now have to foot the bill 100%. My 1998 policy was a border line claim, and even then I had to enlist assistance from a friend in a regulatory agency to force it through. A year later and I would have been SOL. I also had a tough time trying to re-insure this property, eventually finding one company who charged me $3000 for a policy that was loaded with limitations and exclusions.soopergrizz said:
If I hadn't been struck myself, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on. However, during the painful process I was exposed to, I learned enough to know more than the average Joe. While my experience refers to the Lower Mainland, it is one that would probably be similar to any other area that has been victimized by such activity. The Landlord in any case is expected to do due diligence on his property, and is in fact financially responsible for the actions of his tenants as it pertains to the claim anyway. His only recourse is to sue the tenants who committed the offense; of course he is not criminally responsible. Further, municipalities are now holding Landords responsible for consequential damages incurred by the tenants, and these can include claims for negligence, and other claims by the City to either make good the property, or deem it unfit for residence and subject to demolition.soopergrizz said:
Other municipalities are also adopting similar bylaws.
These are just two local quotes on the subject of homeowner responsibility, but there are others if you do a search. As for the robbery comparison, I fail to see the parallel, as the two are different kinds of crime. But, getting back to the topic, in my discussions with insurance adjusters, grow-ops are a specific exclusions in claims of this nature, for the Lower Mainland, and most city centres across Canada. The reason is simple; insurance companies have taken it in the chops, and they responded as they usually do when the cards are not stacked in their favour.
I will agree about the shithead categorization though...
OK, now I'll slow down...
Further to my previous post, and in the interest to help the inquiring poster, it is imperative that he seek advice from a professional in this field to determine the extent of the coverage of his own individual insurance policy. While we sometimes are moved to assist inquiring minds on Perb, any advice should be taken with a grain of salt as the financial implications and any related responsibilities are well beyond the scope of our capabilities to properly address.
While I got the humour of the matches comment and found it amusing, I also get Shinder's hostility towards it. I've been the victim of bad tenants three times with two different properties.
Tenant number 1 was a pig. It was heartbreaking to see that the $5000 pergo flooring in the kitchen had not been swept, let alone washed in a year and a half. The age old poop smeared on the front of the toilet bowl was pretty f*cking special too! I liked the dried up ketchup on the ceiling, especially the way it damaged the stucco when I scraped it off. While the structural damage was minimal, the place was a pigsty and it took me over two weeks to clean it. So I was $1100 out of pocket for the missed month's rent.
Tenant number 2 and her boyfriend smoked like chimneys apparently, in spite of the fact I specifically asked for nonsmokers. There was a brown cloud left above where the couch was that was so bad, I had to repaint. It was a vaulted ceiling, so that was pricey, plus I lost a months rent, again.
Tenant number 3 had pets who pissed and shit everywhere. I had to spend $4000 having the hardwood floors refinished.
So yes, the flip comment was funny. However, watching the equity drain right out of your investment property is not. He now has to declare that it was a growop on resale, thats going to hurt his asking price. If the house is in Surrey, he has to have the air quality tested before he can even list it, that will be expensive. He can't rent the place out again until its cleaned up, so he is losing the rent revenue, not to mention the expense of the repairs. I can't say I blame him for being pissy right now.
I'm not saying his pm was justified, just that I know the headspace of which it came from.
Tenant number 1 was a pig. It was heartbreaking to see that the $5000 pergo flooring in the kitchen had not been swept, let alone washed in a year and a half. The age old poop smeared on the front of the toilet bowl was pretty f*cking special too! I liked the dried up ketchup on the ceiling, especially the way it damaged the stucco when I scraped it off. While the structural damage was minimal, the place was a pigsty and it took me over two weeks to clean it. So I was $1100 out of pocket for the missed month's rent.
Tenant number 2 and her boyfriend smoked like chimneys apparently, in spite of the fact I specifically asked for nonsmokers. There was a brown cloud left above where the couch was that was so bad, I had to repaint. It was a vaulted ceiling, so that was pricey, plus I lost a months rent, again.
Tenant number 3 had pets who pissed and shit everywhere. I had to spend $4000 having the hardwood floors refinished.
So yes, the flip comment was funny. However, watching the equity drain right out of your investment property is not. He now has to declare that it was a growop on resale, thats going to hurt his asking price. If the house is in Surrey, he has to have the air quality tested before he can even list it, that will be expensive. He can't rent the place out again until its cleaned up, so he is losing the rent revenue, not to mention the expense of the repairs. I can't say I blame him for being pissy right now.
I'm not saying his pm was justified, just that I know the headspace of which it came from.
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Regardless, of the financial consequences to this individual the type of PM he send is completely uncalled for. If you don't want a discussion regarding the topic, don't start a thread, but if you do, respect those who post, even if you disagree with them. Pretty basic stuff if you ask me.
