Is Your Tenant Turning your property into a Meth Lab?

Every year, authorities discover thousands of home meth labs, but there are also many that go undetected. Even worse is the fact that some of these meth labs are in rentals, and can go undetected by unsuspecting landlords long enough to cause severe damage to a property.

Being in the vicinity of a meth lab puts a person at risk of personal health problems due to the chemical residues. It also affects personal safety because of the risk of an explosion. For a landlord, the cost of cleaning up a home contaminated by a meth lab could cost $10,000 or more.

Here are the signs you should not ignore:

• Neighbors complaining of strange activity at the home, such a people coming through at all hours of the day.
• A random abundance of common materials used for meth production, such as: cans, bottles, tubing, propane tanks, cooler, portable stoves
• Packages of suspicious chemical substances like acetone, brake cleaner, drain cleaner, iodine, paint thinner, phosphorous, etc.
• Strong, unpleasant smells – similar to cat urine.

Ask yourself, “Why does my tenant need paint thinner?” or “What IS that smell?”

You can purchase DIY meth detection kids online for around $50, or you can pay a professional service to perform a more comprehensive test for just under a thousand dollars. While that might seem costly, it is nothing compared to the price you will have to pay to evict, and then treat your home for contamination.

Since 1988, has been a leading provider of tenant screening services for Landlords, Property Owners, Property Managers and Real Estate Professionals.