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Meth Lab House

Discussion in 'Non-Vegas Chat' started by sybgal, Sep 7, 2013.

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  1. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

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    I have a hard working - ambitious 20 year old granddaughter who was just approved to buy her 1st house....all by herself. She starting working at 15 & worked for the same company for over 4 years becoming an Asst. Mgr. She recently secured a very well paying job with a successful company in our area.....she makes much more than any kids her age that I know of and she only has a high school diploma.....no college yet.

    Now....she found a house, made and offer and she accepted the sellers counter offer. She was so exited that she went out & started buying things to decorate. She & her Dad went to the house to meet the home inspector and a neighbor came out and asked her if the seller disclosed that the police had found a long running meth lab in the house last year. They were shocked....no - the seller did not disclose this info. Does anyone know if this is required....like other required disclosures? Our family has researched and found that the chemicals can do damage to a homes plumbing / AC / etc and affect the lives of future residents.

    Granddaughter is devastated and back at square one on her home search. On top of that....the sellers real estate agent cashed her good-will deposit that same day and she is now fighting to get her money back. I am so angry that a young person does everything right...they way they should and end up being taken advantage of. Thanks for letting me vent!! :)
     
  2. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    I would certainly hope that would be something a seller is required to disclose, but I have no idea what the laws are.

    Either way, deals are easy to get out of (at least in my neck of the woods). Surely, her realtor made the offer contingent on the inspection. And I'm sure the inspector found a few things wrong. Just have her say those problems scared her and she wants to walk away.

    She'll get her earnest money back, and she'll find another house. :thumbsup:

    What is her realtor doing about it?
     
  3. Jerseyguy

    Jerseyguy MIA

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    What about the mortgage lender ?

    When they do a search of the property doesnt this pop-up.
    Also,did she confirm this with the local pd? I know this sounds far-fetched, but maybe some people hate their neighbors enough to make up stories just to screw them out of a sale. Wish her luck ,sounds like a great kid.
     
  4. VegasBJ

    VegasBJ VIP Whale

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    Yeah, your granddaughter's Realtor should be all over this and doing all the necessary work to cancel the sale and get the deposit back.
     
  5. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    Of course the earnest money check was deposited immediately however it just goes into a trust account and she'll get it back when she cancels the deal. It sucks to have a deal fall through but it's not the end of the world. She'll find another house and be fine. That's just part of buying real estate, it's a good learning experience for her.
     
  6. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

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    Yes, her realtor sent a letter to cancel the contract based on the unsafe environment & asked for a refund of her deposit. Since this type of illegal activity is public record, we confirmed online of the raid. After that happened, the house was foreclosed on and the bank evidently did not want to pay the estimated $16-20,000 clean-up cost with the possibility of needing to tear down & sell the lot. They charged off the loan & walked away - the house was purchased at a tax lien auction. We were advised with that situation, no disclosure is require. Someone could get into a big mess if they buy it.
     
  7. Auggie

    Auggie Dovahkiin

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    Thats the mistake she made: she hired a home inspector AFTER agreeing to buy the house.

    Hopefully she gets her money back, but if she doesn't she can actually consider it a lucky break and a valuable life lesson learned: if she bought the house and then afterwards hires an inspector only to find problems with the roof, foundation, mold, etc it could end up costing her a lot more than just a deposit.

    For a purchase this big its not like going to the store and buying a new pair of shoes or something... she has to do all her due diligence first. Like did she look to see if there were any liens on the property? Any renovations that might not meet local code? Any problems/issues with the land itself? Any local development proposals that might affect her land/value?
     
  8. shifter

    shifter Degenerate Gambler

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    that's always how it works. you sign the contract and then have X days to have it inspected. nothing out of the ordinary here.
     
  9. thecarve

    thecarve Misanthrope

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    I think that's par for the course. I've never heard of any deal not being contingent on the inspection (other than at the height of the bubble). Once the inspector does his thing, you tell the buyer what you want him to fix, adjust your offer or walk away. If the seller is willing to fix the stuff, or give you a few bucks off the selling price, then you have a deal. If not, you're free to walk without obligation.
     
  10. sweetcanadian

    sweetcanadian High-Roller

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    If the contract says it is based on the outcome of home inspection then she can get her money back and yes the money from the cheque was placed in trust.

    If the offer does NOT say anything about a home inspection and she signed the dotted line then she owns the house and most likely they will not cancel it.

    Once the papers are signed it is a done deal but as i said if it was written in the offer based on positive home inspection then she can cancel it.
     
  11. sybgal

    sybgal VIP Whale

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    Never heard of doing it any other way around here....you make the deal contingent on the home inspection. Do they do it differently in your area?
     
  12. casinoboy

    casinoboy Low-Roller

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    this was a plot in breaking bad! i think her neighbor watches the show and is pulling a joke. maybe the nieghbor wants to ruin the sale so no one buys the house and he can buy it cheap. thats what happened in breaking bad he bought the house for half price because they didnt disclose it had a meth lab,but in the show it was true. your neighbor could be making it up after seeing the show.
     
  13. Film-Noir

    Film-Noir High-Roller

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    Yes, common to Las Vegas

    Yes,

    Meth labs in Foreclosed/vacant houses are common in Las Vegas,
    A by-product of a Heavy drug Demand in the area.

    There was even an episode of Cops, showing the blight of Abandon Las Vegas homes,
    converted to Meth Labs/Marijuana Grow Houses.

    In TX. the question "was this house a Meth Lab" is on the standard real estate Disclosure form.
     
  14. Julie888

    Julie888 VIP Whale

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    It's pretty standard to make an offer based on a home inspection afterwards.

    If the owner or real estate firm was obligated by law to disclose the drug production, the deal is off too.

    My DIL works for a real estate firm. She said that folks buy a former drug house for a low price, spend lots fixing it up and then can't resell. No one wants them. Here the disclosure goes on forever.
     
  15. bswim

    bswim High-Roller

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    Read the whole thread, they've since checked public records and there was in fact a drug house busted there.
     
  16. theotherone

    theotherone Low-Roller

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    Good thing she discovered it was a meth lab preivously, before she actually bought the house.

    Otherwise it could have seriously affected her health, credit, well being, etc.

    Such a shame...I'm sure it's for the better though and she will find a better place!
     
  17. Keyser Soze

    Keyser Soze Low-Roller

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    So she buys a house and acquires a very profitable business.

    Sounds like a win-win.
     
  18. makikiboy

    makikiboy VIP Whale

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    I am surprised that no disclosure is required. Maybe it's a Hawaii law but in Hawaii sellers are required to disclose that kind of thing in the contract. Because we have a lot of asian people who are superstitious we also disclose if there were deaths in the house (as far as we know), etc. I was a realtor a decade ago, one rule we learned was to disclose everything so we can avoid getting sued for not disclosing something.

    Yes, even a decade ago we were all warned about meth houses and inability to resell the place, guess that's why they sell for so cheap, nobody wants it.

    As for getting the deposit back, it shouldn't be a problem since she can justify cancelling the contract due to it being a meth lab. If it is still a problem, she can take the seller's real estate company to small claims court to get her money back, I am sure that the judge will immediately tell the company to give the money back and possibly ask the seller's agent to pay fees involved with the court proceeding.

    There must be some law in indiana that ensure that those kind of things need to be disclosed, as others mentioned, with the increase of meth houses
    I can't see a state not requiring the seller to disclose that the place was a meth lab. :Þ

    As for the home inspection, normally that occurs after the contract is signed (not the ownership papers but the contract offer) by both parties prior to closing. There are a number of things that need to be signed off on such as home inspection, run checks on the property for liens, property lines, etc. There are so many things that can cancel a deal that usually the seller's agent makes sure that the buyer understands everything going on with the property. No sense spending time and money on an offer that will be cancelled. Usually the contract offer includes the standard cancellation clauses due to finding problems with the house and property. While the sellers could keep the deposit, usually it is customary in Hawaii to keep deduct whatever costs incurred by the cancellation and return the rest of the deposit to the buyer.



    Your daughter should just be lucky that she caught it before she bought the house and moved in.
     
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