Home Owners Struggle with Meth Contaminated Homes

Meth contamination has been an ongoing concern and issue for many New Zealand home owners in recent years. This month, another pair of homeowners have been dealt a bad hand after finding out that their previous tenants smoked meth inside, contaminating their house.

The Invercargill couple had been renting their house to a number of tenants over the past decade, and last year they decided to sell it. However, their real estate agent received an anonymous phone call saying the house had been a “P house.” After testing, seven out of ten rooms tested positive for meth use above Ministry of Health safety guidelines. “We were told the levels weren’t high enough for it to have been a meth cook house… it was only used to smoke meth in.”

Despite being decontaminated and now “completely clean”, the house has a stigma attached to it and is unable to be sold. The decontamination process included cleaning and replacing soft furnishings. The bill of $90 000 was paid for by the insurance company.

The couple say the experience has been “bloody horrible” and that their main concern is that “people that own the homes are being persecuted for something they had no control over.” A spokeswoman for Invercargill City Council has said that there is no obligation for people to notify the council if their house was contaminated by meth; however, the council is working on a policy that will encourage home owners to notify the council if there is any meth contamination over ministry standards.

Although there is currently no legal requirement to notify the council of meth contamination, real estate agents must adhere to the Real Estate Agents Act which states that they must disclose whether there was meth contamination at the property, if the agent has knowledge of it. For this Invercargill couple, this means that they are losing money as they hope for a sale. “Through no fault of my own someone’s buggered my asset.”

MBIE housing suggests that anyone who suspects a property is being used for meth use or manufacture should contact the police and local council. Jennifer Sykes, a tenancy manager said landlords should seek permission of tenants to test for meth, as undertaking a meth test when the tenant does not agree may be considered a breach of the tenant’s rights.

If you are looking for meth cleaning for commercial or residential sites, Chemcare is a local company that provides meth decontamination services. This meth cleaning company could be the solution to many home owners who are struggling with meth contaminated homes.