MPP Lisa MacCleod has just introduced the Clandestine Drug Operation Prevention Act, in order to create a database for cannabis grow operations and clandestine drug laboratories. The Ontario Real Estate Association(OREA) is very supportive of this new bill as it is something that the association has been urging the government to do for a while now.
Pat Verge, a REALTOR® and member of OREA’s Board of Directors, says that “Grow-ops are a major problem for homebuyers in the province and we have been urging the Ontario government to establish a registry to protect consumers for over ten years. We urge the Legislature to pass this bill in order to protect homebuyers.”
A study was commissioned by OREA back in 2012, when they found that 24% of Ontario residents saw or knew of local homes that had grow ops in them, and 93% of Ontarians would want to know if they house they are about to buy used to have a grow op in it. Verge adds that “The prevalence of these homes in Ontario is quite frankly alarming, and REALTORS® want to be able to warn their clients as early in the purchasing process as possible.”
The specific concerns over buying a home which previously had a grow op are that it could have issues such as mold, faulty and hazardous electrical wiring, chemical contamination, or structural alterations. Should this new bill become law, it would require municipalities to make a registry of remediation work orders on title of property with previous grow ops. Licensed realtors and mortgage professionals would then have access to this registry so that they can refer to it when showing homes to potential buyers.