Tuesday, July 14, 2009
News Did your house used to be a meth lab?
Posted by Mara Shalhoup on Tue, Jul 14, 2009 at 8:48 PM
If so, you're screwed.
A frightening story in today's New York Times explores the toxic toll on families who — unbeknownst to them — moved into former meth houses.
“The meth lab home problem is only going to grow,” said Dawn Turner, who started a Web site, www.methlabhomes.com, after her son lost thousands of dollars when he bought a foreclosed home in Sweetwater, Tenn., that turned out to be contaminated. Because less is known about the history of foreclosed houses, Ms. Turner said, “as foreclosures rise, so will the number of new meth lab home owners.”
It can cost $5,000 to $100,000 to decontaminate a former meth house. One Texas woman lost pretty much everything after buying one such home:
“It makes you crazy,” Ms. [Francisca] Rodriguez said. “Our credit is ruined, we won’t be able to buy another house, somebody exposed my kids to meth, and my dog died.”
Only one state, Colorado, provides federal funds to help innocent property owners clean up meth-infested homes. As for the Peach State ...
In other states, like Georgia, landlords and other real estate owners have fought a proposed cleanup law.
Thanks, Georgia.
Comments (2)
Showing 1-2 of 2
like
dislike
Latest in Fresh Loaf
-
Town hall meeting on Ashford, er, Brookhaven… whatever 3
Someone has proposed turning DeKalb County into one big fat city
-
Ringling Bros. Circus kicks off tonight, but there's an elephant in the room 6
Or, tent, I suppose
-
Blogging today: Lines get fuzzier at AJC and elsewhere 11
New AJC blog blurs line between editorial and marketing
- More »
Author Archives
-
Warren Ullom: Death, drugs and rock 'n' roll, Part I 57
A talented musician. A beautiful woman. A fatal cocktail of heroin and cocaine.
-
A goodbye, without regrets 8
Ironically, CL's able staff makes it easier to leave without worries
-
Death, drugs and rock 'n' roll, Part II 78
Warren Ullom: A talented musician's recovery, incarceration and swan song
- More »
