Meth House. Yep, Barry Ward rented me one then kicked my family out when we contacted a lawyer…read more
Cliff notes
We rented the property at 1265 Shady Circle in Arnold. Family with pregnant wife and toddler at home. Discovered it was positive for Meth Contamination (see photos). Tried to work out an amicable solution. No dice. Contacted a lawyer and was immediately issued a 30 day notice to get out.
Lived in a meth house for 9 months without being notified as such, Barry Ward kicked us out when we said something.
DO NOT RENT THIS ADDRESS until you have personally verified the meth contamination has been remediated and you have lab results in hand to prove it!
_________
Long Story:
In the Fall of 2014, Barry Ward Realty rented my family and I a home and neighboring studio cabin (1265 Shady Circle in Arnold). We have a toddler and at the time of this writing, I am currently 8 months pregnant with baby #2.
Over the months, we had repeated found rusty nails, coils, and broken glass galore in the yard as well as mysterious white substances scattered throughout the soil. Tons of trash filling the entire outdoor property, much of it hazardous and dangerous for a child to play or even to walk without shoes.
Shortly after moving in, we noticed that the studio cabin had bizarre industrial lab cabinets and the sink drains in the kitchen has been completely chemically corroded - we had our suspicions. Then, at about 8 months into living at this location, our neighbors informed us that the previous residents were meth users. The informed us that the guy who had lived there for many years was a heavy user and potential cooker and they even knew where he obtained meth.
We contacted the landlord about this immediately and he did nothing and denied knowledge.
For our own peace of mind with a child and with a developing baby, we decided to have both the house and the cabin test with preliminary tests for meth contamination (me, pregnant this whole time). We paid for these out of pocket and I put my MS Graduate Degree training to use in the most unconventional way - no longer was I running samples in a lab, I was doing it in my own house.
The preliminary tests were positive immediately for both the house and the cabin (see photos).
Our next step was to contact the County, who informed us that while they couldn't do anything legally because there was never a police bust for meth, it was not safe for us to be there. The state of California has a legal limit for safe habitation with meth contamination of 1.5ug/100cm2. The health department advises that once an initial test is positive, that lab testing is completed to verify that the property is habitable. Then, if it exceeds legal limits, they recommend complete remediation and re-testing to ensure the cleaning took care of the contamination.
We relayed this information to the landlord, hoping hew ould be on board.
He wasn't, because apparently his homeowners insurance would cover none of it because the meth contamination occurred prior to ownership. He refused to test to ensure it was habitable for anyone, let alone a child and a pregnant woman.
We contacted a lawyer. Lawyer contacted the landlord.
Within 48 hours, we were issued a 30-day termination of our lease and boom - pregnant lady and family are out on the streets. All because Barry Ward and friends rented us a meth house without our knowledge and we found out.
We had the property lab tested out of our own pocket, see photos for results, and the studio cabin did, in fact, exceed legal habitable limits for the state of California at 2.4ug/100cm2 and 1.8 ug/100cm2. The legal limit is 1.5ug/100cm2.
This is the cabin that I, the pregnant lady, used as my home office while we lived there.
Despite the fact that we were rented a meth house without our knowledge, while pregnant and with a toddler at home, the landlord not only refused to ensure it was safe to live in, but also kicked us out after we raised issue.
If you value your health and safety, and your family's health and safety, I would strongly advise you to not rent the property at 1265 Shady Circle until you have verified that meth contamination is cleared and you have lab results in hand to support this claim. Additionally, a county employee advised us that the soil is not safe for children to play in and the water table is also contaminated, so the water is not safe to drink.
Barry Ward - test your homes before you rent them to people. While we are currently not pursuing legal action against the advice of our lawyer (mostly, because I'm pregnant and we want to get on with our lives), others will sue you and sue you for THOUSANDS. If this baby is delivered with health problems, you better believe you'll get slammed with a suit.
Everyone else - 1265 Shady Circle is a Meth House, beware and rent at your own risk (P.S. Both my daughter and I experienced nausea and headaches after only 3 months of living there.)