Meth or P related - it goes here, please.

[RHarris]

Frightening amount of homes too

[rocket]

Is there a way to check if your tenant does drugs? OR a way to check prior to letting out your property.

[speights boy]

Mum horrified over 'toxic' meth house

A solo mum and her two children have been forced out of their rented home after tests for P residue revealed levels of the drug 25 times above safety limits.

The four-bedroom villa at Fairway Ave, Red Beach, Whangaparaoa, is owned by large-scale methamphetamine dealer Brett Campbell Bogue, who was jailed for more than nine years in November.

Captain became aware of the property owner's history after being informed by a neighbour two months after moving in.

"I was horrified," she told the Herald on Sunday. "I know residue from that drug is toxic and I had real worries for my family's health."

Captain told the tribunal she contacted Janice Bogue at the end of March about the possibility of contamination.

Two weeks later, Bogue indicated she would organise a meth test, but nothing happened, Captain said.
She went ahead with private testing, conducted by MethSolutions.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=11453676

[speights boy]

When the Kiwi holiday home becomes a P-lab

Kiwis baches are being contaminated by strangers' makeshift methamphetamine laboratories in a practise known among criminals as a "cook-a-batch" holiday.

Holiday-makers from hell are trawling popular accommodation booking websites to find sites to house their mobile P-labs - coating walls and carpets in noxious chemicals that can cost in the up to $50,000 to strip and decontaminate.

Accommodation sites assure the practise is rare, but Bookabach.co.nz encourages its hosts to insure and install anti-meth alarms.

If the discovery is properly notified the title is usually added to the local council's clandestine laboratory register, and its history appears on LIM reports, Stratford said.
"That remaining stigma has a negative effect as far as property value is concerned."

http://www.stuff.co.nz/travel/travel-troubles/69316614/when-the-kiwi-holiday-home-becomes-a-plab

[speights boy]

Excellant.

Meth ringleader 'stunned' by 17yr sentence

Kevin Chea was sentenced in the High Court at Wellington on Friday to 17 years in jail with a minimum non parole period of eight and a half years for importing, possessing and supplying a Class A drug.

His co-defendant Kien Dao was jailed for 15 years for importing methamphetamine, Michael Debreceny got nine and a half years for importing, and Chea's girlfriend was sentenced to three and a half years for possessing the drug.

Police busted the meth lab in a central-city apartment on Chews Lane in March last year where Chea, Dao and Cummins were living and found more than a kilogram of methamphetamine.

Chea's lawyer Tony Rickard-Simms told NZ Newswire the sentence was "significantly higher" than they'd expected.
"He's pretty stunned," Mr Rickard-Simms said.

https://nz.news.yahoo.com/top-stories/a/29149894/meth-ringleader-stunned-by-17yr-sentence/

[Kirwee]

Meth Problems and How to Detect

An article appeared on STUFF today about the problem with meth in Housing NZ houses.
It mentions that in the Waikato 400 homes were tested for meth and 160 homes returned a positive indication.
I'm sure this would represent the tip of the iceberg and there are perhaps thousands more throughout NZ that have this issue.

I'm looking at purchasing a good three bedroom property in which the vendor is in the process of having the carpets replaced throughout the house.
The reason given is that the dog messed and ruined the carpets.

Fair enough, but wanting to be cautious I specifically asked the RA this morning if there was meth either cooked or used in the house.

As yet I haven't had a reply however I feel it prudent to do an initial test as part of the property inspection.

Maybe someone who has some experience in this area might wish to comment on their experiences and advise:

• When asked, is it the responsibility of the vendor to give the RA an honest reply?
• If a dishonest reply was given and meth traces where found (prior to it being tenanted) what legal action could be taken to clean the house?
• Are there any over the counter meth check kits available?

Any testing should be done prior to purchase as once meth traces are found and remedial work needs to be done I understand this will be noted on the LIM report.

Thanks,
Kirwee

[Wayne]

A positive could mean anything from a quick smoke in a bedroom to a full blown lab.
Get more detailed testing done.

[Kirwee]

That's a wise comment Wayne.
A condition of my offer is for a builders report plus a meth test on the property.

[Maccachic]

Im assuming a positive test could also be margin of error / common household chemical which can be used in meth production. Sadly cant find any info on what specifically pulls a positive test (meth being a compound) and margin of error.

[Wayne]

When Hills do the 1st test they indicate if further investigation is required - I am told.

[Sportsvee]

Greetings all, site noob here.

Have recently used Meth Solutions to test 2 units so thought I would throw in my 2c.

Basically the test for both units came back positive and there was a level reading for the amount detected. Once the results were in I was phoned and was informed of the levels, options open to me and what the general readings meant. Luckily the levels were low and did not get close to or pass the .5 set out as the bench mark for requiring cleaning/detox.

Apparently one unit someone had smoked meth multiple times, in the other just a couple.

An email with the results was also sent out.

Would I do the test again? Yep
Did the vendor care? Claimed they did regular checks and no meth was cooked on site, but it's still present. Also claimed there was no deferred/outstanding maintenance.....Yeah right.
Will the vendor tell the next person if I don't go ahead with purchase? I dealt it, although they are now fully informed.

So I hope that helps a little. Personally I wouldn't trust the vendor/agent at all and would get my own tests done for piece of mind. They can always come back and plead ignorance.

[FJW]

An article appeared on STUFF today about the problem with meth in Housing NZ houses.
It mentions that in the Waikato 400 homes were tested for meth and 160 homes returned a positive indication.
I'm sure this would represent the tip of the iceberg and there are perhaps thousands more throughout NZ that have this issue.

I'm looking at purchasing a good three bedroom property in which the vendor is in the process of having the carpets replaced throughout the house.
The reason given is that the dog messed and ruined the carpets.

Fair enough, but wanting to be cautious I specifically asked the RA this morning if there was meth either cooked or used in the house.

As yet I haven't had a reply however I feel it prudent to do an initial test as part of the property inspection.

Maybe someone who has some experience in this area might wish to comment on their experiences and advise:

• When asked, is it the responsibility of the vendor to give the RA an honest reply?
• If a dishonest reply was given and meth traces where found (prior to it being tenanted) what legal action could be taken to clean the house?
• Are there any over the counter meth check kits available?

Any testing should be done prior to purchase as once meth traces are found and remedial work needs to be done I understand this will be noted on the LIM report.

Thanks,
Kirwee

Yes the seller has a legal obligation to advise the R.A, if the R.A hasn't been told by the seller how would they know? LIM reports indicate if its been used.

Signs to look for.....if you get a bitter taste in your mouth after you have been in there (literally a bitter taste), thats all I know of. I know signs to look for once its occupied but not once its unoccupied apart from the bitter taste in your mouth.

Don't believe there are any kits you can buy over the counter.......meth minder would be the company I would go to for detection personally

Hope that helps

[Wayne]

meth minder would be the company I would go to for detection personally

Meth Minder is on-going rather than a one off test during purchase or before/after tenancy.

[Kirwee]

You are right FJW, I do have a bitter taste in my mouth.
After being suspicious about why all the carpets throughout and the vinyl flooring in the kitchen was being replaced I put a clause
in my offer on a property in Wainuiomata (Lower Hutt) that a "Methamphetamine Test" be carried out at the my cost.
I posted earlier that the reason given for the original flooring being replaced was "due to the tenants dog weeing and pooing..."
Now I have owned a dog and weeing and pooing on a vinyl floor can simply be washed; it doesn't need replacing.
Carpets are a different story.
Even though the house is vacant I asked the RA to arrange for me to do this test this afternoon.
The RA was able to contact the wife however she indicated that her husband was not available. Strange that!
Also when my offer was presented yesterday the vendor said there were too many clauses in the Agreement for Sale and Purchase and he wanted some deleted? (Did I get the impression that he wanted a certain meth clause taken out?.... Yup)
After being refused entry today I knew something was up and rescinded my offer.
For those interested I did get a meth test kit from an importer in Levin.
I'm no way connected to either the product or the importer but the brand is available at www.check4meth.com.
My post is simply to keep people aware that there are contaminated houses out there.
Buying one could be costly to rectify.
Back to looking again with two good RAs scouting for me and by trolling Trademe.

[drelly]

Try Sterling Building Consultants - they do meth testing. It's not expensive.