Pot house for sale

The information on Realtor.ca appears to say it all – excellent potential for a contractor or the handy man as the home does require some repairs.

What the advertisement doesn’t explain about the Hunter Road home, now for sale at an asking price of $99,000, is how it hit the market.

Pascal Gauvrea and Charlene Tremblay purchased the house in 2007. The couple lived in the home with their children for eight months, but later abandoned it after discovering a black mould infestation.

"A neighbour let us know it was used as a marijuana grow operation," Gauvreau told a Thunder Bay Source reporter in January 2009. "So we had it mould tested and we shouldn’t have been living in there."

The young couple said they couldn’t afford to pay for their mortgage while paying for rent to live elsewhere. Despite accusations that their realtor knew about the grow operation prior to the home’s purchase, the family had to file for bankruptcy in August 2008.

As of last week the house was listed for sale on Realtor.ca. The advertisement has since been removed but a for sale sign could still be spotted on the home’s front lawn as of Monday.
The realtor now responsible for the home’s sale declined to comment when contacted by Dougall Media.

Wendy Siltamaki , president of the Thunder Bay Real Estate Board, said the bottom line is that the province needs a marijuana grow operation registry.

While Siltamaki didn’t speak specifically about the Hunter Road property, she said a registry would put realtors and buyers in a more comfortable position when purchasing or selling homes.

"(The Ontario Real Estate Association is) lobbying Ottawa and the province for a grow-op registry," Siltamaki said. "We’re asking if it could somehow be registered on title. So when a lawyer goes to check for clear title (the grow-op history) would automatically come up."
Siltamaki admits a registry isn’t as simple as it sounds.

"It’s very involved and very complicated," She said. "What would designate a home as a grow up? That is something they are looking at. Also, if it was registered on title, how long would it remain on title? It is complicated."

Without a registry, Siltamaki said homebuyers are in a bit of a buyer-beware position.
Currently, real estate brokers and salespersons are obligated to disclose any fact about a property or its history they are aware of that might affect a person’s decision to buy. That would include if a home was used as a marijuana grow operation.

With or without a registry, the Hunter Road property remains for sale with a last known asking price of $99,000.

The Gauvreau family, now in a lawsuit with their previous realtor and the former owner of the home, referred all media inquiries to their lawyer, who was not available for comment Monday.