Imagine: you can shut down a home for methamphetamine without even knowing if it is there. You can condemn it for being a meth lab without even testing to see if it is. Property owners are charged $10,000 to clean up a mess that might not even exist.
In Salt Lake County, it take two out of three things sot shut a home down. If the meth crystals, themselves, are found, that's one. If paraphernalia is found, that's two. If an occupant of the residence confesses to using the drug on the site, that's three. You need just two of the three.
But, no testing of the walls is required. The whole home can be condemned simply if someone came into the home with a pipe of meth in his pocket and the police happened to raid the place while he was there.
When meth makers and meth users are caught, they must be proven guilty before they are punished. Not so with their landlords. He has no day in court. He has no public hearing. The police do not have to show proof it is a meth house. Yes, they have to have evidence. Two out of those three things does constitute evidence. But, not proof.
Innocent until proven guilty? No such luck for landlords.
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