COULD REGISTRY HIGHLIGHT POT PAST?

The fate of Theresa Denton, who unknowingly bought a home that housed
a marijuana-grow operation, remains to be determined - but there
could be a way to never let it happen again.

KTW posed a question to Kevin Krueger, minister of community
development and Denton's MLA until the election campaign began: Is an
online, publicly accessible registry that lists every house in B.C.
busted for a grow-op or the subject of other major issues a feasible idea?

"I haven't heard that suggestion before, but it sounds like a good
idea to me," Krueger said, noting Denton's story is becoming a
depressingly common scenario.

"I don't know if that idea has been put to my colleague (Solicitor
General John van Dongen), but I will make sure it is.

"This poor woman. I can't believe the nightmare it's been for her and
none of these issues have been her fault."

Denton is thrilled at the idea other families may never have to go
through what she and her two sons, Jaden, 9, and Kasl, 14, have
endured after buying their dream home on Pinantan Lake.

In addition to a legal battle with the home's previous owner, Robert
Gillan, realtor Maggie Schmaltz and her agency, Royal LePage Westwin
Realty Ltd., home inspector David Mahoney and his employer, Damar
Services, the Denton family has faced two years of obstacles, road
blocks and unanswered questions.

"Yes, I think that would be helpful . . . so they don't have to find
out the hard way like us," Denton said of a house registry, noting
she never thought she had to worry about buying a house used to grow pot.

"We've lost two years of our lives that we'll never get back and I
feel really strongly that no other family that is a hardworking,
taxpaying British Columbian should have to experience what we're experiencing.

"It's ruined our lives."

As a homebuyer, Denton did her due diligence.

There was nothing on the disclosure statement from the previous owner
about a grow-op and she paid for a home inspection - which didn't
turn up anything - before she bought the two-decade-old house.

Nevertheless, a quick call to the RCMP revealed the previous owner
was charged in 2006 and convicted in February 2007 for growing
marijuana in the house for the purposes of trafficking.

Schmaltz, the realtor who was acting on behalf of the buyer and the
seller, told KTW she has been "advised not to make any comments
because it's in the court system," when asked if she knew about the grow-op.

Denton did her own inspection and said she was "shocked" at the
amount of black mould flowering in her attic.

Immediately, she contacted an environmental-assessment company to
have the air tested.

The worst areas were the garage, in which Denton said the pot was
grown, the upstairs bedroom and the attic, into which the humidity of
the grow-operation was vented.

The readings, she said, were off the charts - and so was the cost to
clean it up, reaching about $12,000.

In the meantime, Denton and her kids had to get out of the house
because of the danger posed by the air quality and mould.

They slept in a tent in the yard, they stayed with a friend for a
month and they slept in a motel.

The boys went to live with their dad for a while and Denton slept in
her car at the Gateway Truck Stop along the East Trans-Canada Highway.

She rented various homes in Kamloops - they've moved six times in the
last 18 months.

What's more, she said, is that the mould-removal company didn't get
rid of all the mould, and it's spreading.

Recently, her lawyer told her to move back into the house, to mitigate costs.

Knowing mould poses a number of health risks - especially for her
youngest son, who is allergic to mould - Denton had another company
re-assess the house.

She said the types of spores found produce mycotoxins, which are
carcinogenic and, to completely clean it up, the cost would be around $100,000.

"We can't do it - it's as simple as that," Denton said, adding both
she and the boys are ill, suffering from severe nosebleeds and
extreme congestion in their noses and throats.

"We are out of money.

"It's like being in prison . . . what I imagine prison like.

"The worst part is that we didn't do anything wrong to deserve
feeling like we're in prison.

"It's frustrating."

However, there has been comfort found in the support from friends,
neighbours and even strangers who have shared their stories, sent
their condolences and donated money through the Facebook group Denton
House Fund.

"This is real and it's impacted our lives," she said.

"But we're definitely not alone."