"We bought a meth house:" Couple worries after learning meth was cooked, smoked in their new home



MICHIGAN (WITI) -- A Grand Rapids, Michigan couple recently purchased a home, and they've learned that home was used to make methamphetamine. Heather and Brian Vanorder tell FOX6's sister station FOX17 in Michigan they believe they were lied to about renovations done to their home. They say the renovations were done to cover up checmicals left behind from the meth that was cooked up and smoked in their home -- something they say is threatening their physical and financial well being.

Heather Vanorder tells FOX17 she has a history of Multiple Sclerosis and Rheumatoid Arthritis -- and she's fearful the chemicals in her home will hurt her family in the future.

The Vanorders moved into their home in December 2014. They say shortly after they bought the home, a man who used to live in the upstairs unit of their duplex told them something that surprised them.

“He was 100% sure they cooked meth in there -- and that he helped the seller cover it up,” Heather Vanorder told FOX17.

The conversation was recorded.

In it, the former upstairs tenant says he helped the home's former owner renovate the kitchen and bedroom to cover up the drug activity. The Vanorders have had two tests run in the kitchen and bedroom, and those tests have revealed levels of methamphetamine much higher than what the EPA allows, according to FOX17.

"You see it in the movies. You watch 'Breaking Bad.' But you get a house with it? It's like, what do I do?" Brian Vanorder said.

Heather and Brian Vanorder say they're living out of moving boxes, afraid of contaminating anything that would come into contact with the home.

"We bought a meth house. I don't even have words anymore," Heather Vanorder said.

FOX17 reports there is no law requiring a seller to disclose former drug activity or other crimes. A short paragraph in the seller’s disclosure agreement asks for information on any “environmental contamination,” to the home. It’s a rule easily sidestepped, as the Vanorders’ believe was the case here.

Heather and Brian Vanorder tell FOX17 they're focusing on making their home a safe place to live. The estimated cost to do so is $20,000 -- and they've reached out to the public for help, setting up a GoFundMe.com account.

CLICK HERE for more on this story via FOX17.