Thread: Couples First House is a Meth House

Saw this come up on CNN
Couple's first home is a meth house - CNN.com
Its about a Pennsylvania couple who inadvertently bought a METH house. They were stretching financially to get into it and with the cost of remediation cannot afford to live in it. Unfortunately no one is taking responsibility because in Pennsylvania sellers are not required to disclose it was a Meth house. The owners nor the seller's agent felt obligated to disclose this information which ethically unfathomable.

For some reason these folks have not sought legal remedies. You would think with all the shark lawyers, the E+O insurers would be running to the settlement table rather than risking a trial. For Inspectors there are a couple of lessons from this:

--I always go over what I will inspect and what I won't. It kinda like Miranda but it includes that I am doing a visual inspection and don't have x-ray glasses.

--The less information that available on the house the more I encourage my clients to get further inspections - scope the sewer line, get a chimney inspection, look for oil tanks etc. I don't try to be paranoid but informative.

--I also point to web sources of information such as on asbestos, lead, acoustic ceilings or whatever.

-- If the home has had renovations I encourage them to go to the city building department and get the permit history.

-- Police department - will give your the criminal activity in the neighborhood and information on sex offenders in the area

--Insurance history - a CLUE report can be run by any insurance agent. This will give the buyer the claim history.

-- Google the address - the buyer in the article did this and found out that the police had raided the home.

-- Last but not least I encourage the buyers to meet the neighbors. Most buyers don't want to be a bother but neighbors are a fantastic source of information and usually want a good neighbor also. If the buyer is met by a guy holding a rottweiler in one hand and a baseball bat in the other - that's a sign!

//Rick
Lopez Home Inspections; San Juan Island Home Inspections By Pacific Crest Inspections
Orcas Village and East Sound Home Inspections; Orcas Island Home Inspections By Pacific Crest Inspections

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Originally Posted by Rick Bunzel

-- Last but not least I encourage the buyers to meet the neighbors. Most buyers don't want to be a bother but neighbors are a fantastic source of information and usually want a good neighbor also. If the buyer is met by a guy holding a rottweiler in one hand and a baseball bat in the other - that's a sign!

Truer words were never spoken.... neighbors LOVE to talk. For a short time I had a job that included delivering subpeonas to eluding folks. You quickly determine the best way to learn someone's schedule and when you can expect them at home is to ask a neighbor. They'd usually offer up the entire story as to why I was there to serve the papers too

Jobs like that make me appreciate crawling through cat poop in the middle of winter.

Originally Posted by Rick Bunzel

...in Pennsylvania sellers are not required to disclose it was a Meth house....

That is correct in that the phrase "meth house" doesn't appear on the disclosure form, but there are multiple questions regarding hazardous substances and environmental concerns.
But, of course, if the sellers were engage in meth production, they're not going to answer truthfully anyway.

Originally Posted by John Arnold

That is correct in that the phrase "meth house" doesn't appear on the disclosure form, but there are multiple questions regarding hazardous substances and environmental concerns.
But, of course, if the sellers were engage in meth production, they're not going to answer truthfully anyway.

Yeah, that makes me think of our Canadian Gun Registry laws. For some reason, none of the criminals are registering their guns.

Anyway, that's too bad about the young couple, and IMO. they should get their cash back from the sellers.