Slum Lords of Summer: A Letter to Our Property Management Company

Dear A***** P******* M*********,

I wish I could say that we, unfortunately are unable to fulfill our lease requirements regarding duration, but, honestly, I will be glad to see the house at ***** in our rear-view mirror. When we moved into the house in late October, we were desperate due to a job transfer that brought us to Durango. However, after living in it less than a week, we were visited by two of Durango’s finest police officers who stopped by to make an early morning visit. They were looking for a previous tenant.

After that event, we spoke to the guys over at the gym on the property and found out that meth was being used and manufactured in the house. This claim was corroborated when we spoke to the owner of the property during one of his several unannounced visits to the property. We also found out from the guys at the gym that the police department conducted surveillance efforts from the upper floor of the gym, as the height and cover of the location provided a good opportunity to observe the comings and goings of people from the house. The guys at the gym also told us that since they have been there, we are the longest tenant, and when there was an active meth lab and distribution hub on the property, there would be people tweaked out and strewn across the front yard. Charging them $1900 per month for a warehouse that has been without heat and has numerous holes in the overhead, leading to leaks in the rain and inclement weather is another indication of the quality of the maintenance that has been conducted on the various buildings located on this property.

I have numerous health issues that have been exacerbated by living in such an environment. Although the inspection sheet indicated that the carpets were replaced, and painting was done in October 2016, more needs to be done to remove these toxins. My physical health has been compromised and I am now rated at 60% disabled through my military physician. This is double the rate of when we moved into the home.

We also have developed skin irritations, respiratory issues, anxiety, and depression, none of which were as severe prior to moving into this house. The level of upkeep and maintenance at and around the property is lacking too. As I noted on the move in inspection report, close to half of the windows have been painted shut and will not open. Among those that do open, the majority do not stay open due to the poor installation and maintenance of these windows. Additionally, most screens on the windows are kept in place with screws that have been driven in from the outside. This is a SERIOUS safety hazard in the event of a fire, as it could certainly impede a swift and safe escape.

During the winter, mice moved in and left their mess. We were able to rid them from the house, but the stress of living in such a state was not hospitable to a healthy life. Ants have also infested the large bedroom (old garage space) and were not deterred by any of the commercial bug repellants. We were able to cease their entrance into the house, but I am not sure for how long. There is little wonder why these pests were able to gain access to our house, as the windows are very drafty, and I had to cover all of them in plastic sheeting during the winter.

We will be vacating the premises by June 15, 2018. We will leave the premises in better condition than when we moved in. I would recommend you remediate the property from meth contamination with urgency, or at least prior to renting it to another unsuspecting family. The failure to disclose this type of information should be criminal. I would also recommend a test of the quality of the well water, as contaminants from the chemicals used on the premises could potentially have leached into the water table. Oh, and you may want to inform any future tenants of the various spirits who also call this home theirs, as we have been scratched, burned, shoved, and pushed by things that we cannot see, as well as hearing auditory hallucinations of one another’s voices when the other person is not home or in the room. Items have also flown off the walls.

These are just a few of the things that we will not be missing when we move. Keep our deposit if you must, but we cannot stay longer than necessary. For the health of future residents, I urge you to conduct proper meth lab remediation efforts and to inform potential renters of the history associated with this property. Testing should also extend to the well, as there is a risk of contamination there too.

Here are some links to articles on how to conduct a meth lab cleanup, as well as the dangers associated with living in a home that used to serve as a meth lab, with excerpts from the articles for a quick glance of the dangers of living in a former meth lab and the steps that need to be taken to remediate this dangerous issue.

https://www.livescience.com/23721-meth-lab-toxins-cleanup.html

When an Oregon family started experiencing mysterious health problems soon after moving into a new home this summer, a neighbor came forward with a likely explanation: The previous owners had produced methamphetamine there. The house had never been properly cleaned after the drug cooks moved out, but an environmental engineer who studies meth labs says the family may not have been safe even if a cleanup had taken place. His research suggests that once a house has been used to make meth, the drug can continue to percolate in the walls for years.

http://aeidecon.com/house-contaminated-meth/

The biggest filter in your home is the carpet and carpet pad. Airborne particles float through the air and settle on the carpet and get embedded in the fibers of the carpet including meth residue. If you come into contact with that carpet the residue can be absorbed into your body dermally. This is why children are more susceptible to the contaminants than adults because they are the ones that spend more time on the floor therefore having more carpet to skin contact.

https://www.rentprep.com/tenant-viewpoint/tenants-need-know-meth-homes/

The Cost of Meth Cleanup
            Cleaning a home that has been used to make meth is an expensive and arduous process and must be passed off by the health department as habitable before it can be rented out again. A friend of mine was able to buy several homes very inexpensively because they had been the sites of meth production labs and the landlord was financially unable to fix them. Each of the homes required full carpet and drywall replacement throughout the home.
            Once these were removed and disposed of properly, he had to power wash each room with a chemical cleaning solution. Before he could replace anything, the health department had to come and check for residue and give the green light to begin restoring the homes. All of this work had to be done while wearing a protective suit. After new carpet, new drywall and new paint, he could finally rent out the homes. Some experts estimate the cost of repairs to a meth home to be around $30,000.

https://www.rentprep.com/property-management/landlords-know-meth-labs/

The cleanup is not just limited to scrubbing and removing garbage. Often running into the tens of thousands of dollars, meth lab cleanup is strictly regulated and must be inspected by a government agency before a property can be deemed livable again. If a meth lab has not been properly cleaned, the property owner will not be allowed to rent it out. A meth lab location must be cleaned by professionals, and it gets very expensive. When a meth lab is discovered in a rental property, the owner of the property is responsible for the cost of cleanup.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/02/12/real_estate/home-meth-lab/index.html

Straightforward decontamination jobs can cost $5,000 to $10,000, according to Mazzuca. Surfaces must be rinsed with special detergents, rooms stripped of carpeting and other materials and meth residue must be sucked off of walls and other hidden surfaces.

Things to Ask Before You Rent, Part II: The Meth Edition

This is a continuation in a series of posts devoted to questions that I had never thought to ask, but have learned my (costly) lesson so you don’t have to experience the same issues that I have over the years.

This is the second part of a multi-part series, so stay tuned!

Poison Leaching? Sweet!

            One of our most recent lessons was learned when we moved from New Mexico to Colorado. As some may know, the housing market in several areas of the country are astronomical, with Southwestern Colorado not immune to this phenomenon. We are paying nearly DOUBLE, yes, DOUBLE what we were paying in Southern New Mexico for a two-bedroom, two-bathroom, decent sized yard, with a garage. Here, we have a three-bedroom, two bathrooms, no garage, and a yard that is not suitable for much. Our pay hasn’t increased much, and we are bleeding money. But, we are not alone in this struggle, as there are countless other families that are in the same situation. However, there is one thing that may make our experience stand apart…

            See, we learned after moving in (and, of course, signing a 12-month lease) that our home used to be a meth lab. Yes, that’s right ladies and gentlemen, a meth lab. It is estimated that out of the 84,000 meth labs that have been discovered since 2004, only about 5% have been discovered by the authorities (Christie,2013). With people looking to make a quick buck, these labs are being set up in just about any type of neighborhood. Yes, even those in gated communities are not immune. We live in a semi-rural area, which may have been one of the lucrative aspects of this house.

            For the home to be adequately abated against meth residue, it can range between $5,000 and $10,000, but that is for a straightforward decontamination. When there are additional materials required, it can easily exceed the cost of a new car. With the costs associated with decontamination, it is unlikely that the property management company that we are renting through had this step completed. According to Christie (2013), meth can seep into many household furnishings, such as the walls and floors, carpeting, sub-flooring, drywall, kitchen cabinets, and even the ground. Once the initial decontamination is completed, the job is not done, as the chemicals can leach for several years after the cleaning has taken place, putting people at risk for several years to come.

            Even if the home was not converted over to a meth lab, if meth has been smoked in a home, there is still a high risk of symptoms due to exposure. Some chemicals that are released when meth is smoked include red phosphorus, ephedrine, hydrochloric or muriatic acid, and sodium hydroxide (Dudley, 2014). Some states have implemented stiff fines and processes to reduce such instances, but the film and residue from meth smoked in a home can stick around longer than the term of one’s lease. When smoked, the fumes can also leak into the cooling fins of a refrigerator, within heating and cooling ducts, and within appliances.

 

Effects of Meth Contamination

            I was diagnosed with a chronic pain condition known as fibromyalgia a few years ago, but I have been experiencing the symptoms for much longer. Some of the effects that have been noted to occur due to living in a previous meth lab include headaches, nausea, dizziness, and fatigue, with long-term complications, such as damage to the kidneys and liver, an increased risk of cancers, and neurological symptoms have been noted (Christie, 2013). Symptoms such as memory loss, respiratory issues, and headaches have also been noted to occur even after a short exposure to a home that was once a meth lab. With a body that is already busy fighting itself and having a malfunctioning nervous system, I guess we’ll wait it out until the end of our lease, sadly.

TLDR: Take home message? Ask if the rental you are considering was once a meth lab.

Things to Ask Before You Rent, Part I

            Prior to moving into our current house, it had not dawned on me to ask certain questions aside from the regular ones that people routinely ask. Knowing if the utilities are included, what the policy is for having dogs at the property, and the length of the rental term all seem like common questions to ask when doing a walk-through of a prospective property. However, over the course of our rental history, we have encountered incidents that would have benefited from additional inquiry prior to signing a lease. So, I guess, our experience can help you to prevent similar situations from happening to you! This is the first part of a multi-part series, so stay tuned!

Do Bugs Bug You?

            One of our rental experiences still haunt me to this day. A few years ago, we decided to move to a bigger place and one that hopefully didn’t wake me up with water dripping on my face from a leaking roof. While we did get a larger place and the roof didn’t leak, we only stayed there for about a month. Fortunately, we were transferring from one property to another within the same property management company, so we didn’t have to complete an additional background check or pay an additional deposit, as it was just transferred from one account to the other.

            The yard was large, but it was not without fault. There were numerous stickers and other non-dog friendly aspects to the yard that made it less than enjoyable for both man and beast. Not only were there stickers and thorns in the sandy yard, but there were scores of bugs. We noticed some bugs walking through our kitchen and up on the walls while we were eating our first meal in the new place. There were SCORES of them, all marching in a line as if they were lining up to induce nightmares if or when I fell asleep. That night we tried to put it out of our heads, as we were exhausted from moving that day. However, sleep was not possible, at least not for me, as the bugs were also IN OUR BED! The would crawl on the walls, on us, on the dogs, on basically any surface. I couldn’t stay in the house due to the bugs. I ended up driving to our old place in the middle of the night, where I proceeded to make a bed of sorts on the floor. However, there were bugs on the blanket I brought over there, but fortunately, not as many. I sent the landlord an email in the middle of the night to share my experience. She sent out an exterminator the following day.

             According to recent research, ticks that carry Lyme disease have been found to be present in over half of all U.S. counties (Asher, 2016). Lyme disease can lead to serious health complications, with the population of this type of pest experiencing an astounding 320% increase over past two decades (Asher, 2016). However, much of the increase in tick population has been found to occur along the West Coast, as well as the East Coast and much of the right half of the country, which is nowhere near where we lived in New Mexico...

            The exterminator told us that it was the worst TICK infestation he had ever seen. Yes, we had ticks. Not just a few, but thousands. The handyman had noticed some of the bugs when he replaced the sliding glass door that was in the kitchen, but didn’t do anything about it. We were pulling ticks off of the dogs and ourselves. The exterminator had to come out once a week and it didn’t put a dent in the infestation. I spoke to my neighbor, as it was part of a duplex, and he said they have the bugs too. How did they not affect him or his family? Was he just used to living in filth? I suppose so. He was a strange cat.

Stay tuned, as Part II of What to Ask Before You Rent will be uploaded tomorrow.

Asher, C. (2016). Lyme-disease carrying ticks are now in half of all U.S. counties. Science Magazine.