Meth Contaminated Property

California Real Estate (Property) law holds property owners and landlords responsible for providing notification to tenants and future owners of any hazards existing on a property offered for lease or sale. One of these hazards can be chemical contamination due to a clandestine Methamphetamine (Meth) laboratory. Clandestine drug laboratories can be found in all sections of LA County. Effective January 1, 2006, a new law that deals with Meth labs went into effect. The Methamphetamine Contaminated Property Act of 2005 requires the clean up of the property so it can be safe for occupancy and imposes fines on the seller of a residential property who fails to disclose information about contamination resulting from a Meth lab. This law also requires the Department of Environmental Health (DEH) to respond to complaints of potentially contaminated property. Response includes evaluating the property, testing for contamination, notifying and posting of warning notices, issuing orders prohibiting occupancy if the site is not safe, as well as overseeing the ultimate return of the property to a safe environment. Property owners are responsible for all the costs that may be associated with these actions.