Cowlitz County ordered to pay in meth case
Friday, January 26, 2007 11:47 PM PST
By Amy M. E. Fischer
Printable version
E-mail this articleA judge has ordered Cowlitz County to pay $94,000 to a family who unwittingly bought a house where former residents grew marijuana and manufacture methamphetamine.
The county, one of three defendants in the lawsuit, was found partly liable in the extremely complicated case because the Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Narcotics Task Force failed to notify the health department of a drug bust at the property at 3409 Spirit Lake Highway in January 2004.
State law dictates that police must report known contaminated property to the health department, which publicizes a list of all contaminated sites statewide.
As a result of the Task Force's oversight, combined with the former property owners' and the real estate agent's failure to inform the buyers that the house had been used for a small meth manufacturing operation, Eddie and Eva Bloor were forced to abandon their newly purchased home and contaminated belongings and move in with relatives in Spokane, according to court documents.
The Bloors, who moved to Cowlitz County from Missouri in August 2004, hired Centralia attorney Todd Rayan and filed their civil suit in March 2005 in Lewis County. In addition to Cowlitz County, the Bloors sued Allen & Associates Property Management, Windermere Real Estate, real estate agent Lance Miller, and the previous owners of the property, Robert and Charmaine Fritz.
Judge Nelson Hunt presided over the seven-day trial that began July 17 in Lewis County Superior Court. Last month, the Bloors were awarded a $94,432 judgment against the Fritzes, Lance Miller, LC Realty, Inc., and the county for emotional distress, loss of personal property, credit damage, loss of use of property and loss of work income.
The Fritzes, Miller, and LC Realty are appealing the decision. Cowlitz County, however, decided to pay the entire amount to end its role in the suit, said Olympia-based attorney John Justice, who defended the county along with Ron Marshall, the county's chief civil prosecutor.
If the other parties lose their appeal, they must reimburse the county for two-thirds of the $94,432, Justice said Thursday. In the meantime, the three entities in addition to the county that make up the Task Force -- Longview, Kelso and Wahkiakum County -- are chipping in their portion of the judgment. Their insurance companies are each paying Cowlitz County about $23,000, city officials said.
The other defendants in the suit have been ordered to pay several hundred thousand dollars toward the Bloors' attorneys' fees. The Fritzes must refund the $149,000 purchase price of the home to the Bloors, plus interest, late charges and foreclosure fees, court documents said. In addition, Miller and LC Realty are being sued for violating the Consumer Protection Act for not disclosing that the property was contaminated.
The Bloors first learned their home had been drug house two months after they moved in from one of their teenage son's classmates. On Jan. 30, 2004, the Task Force found three guns and 43 marijuana plants at the house and evidence of a small meth lab on and beneath the outdoor deck. The three people renting the house at the time were arrested on drug charges.
A story about the bust and meth lab appeared in The Daily News on Feb. 1, 2004.
The Fritzes then prepared the house for sale by painting and repairing it, without testing for toxic materials possibly remaining from the meth operation. Task Force members had multiple conversations with the Fritzes about the bust, according to court documents.
Miller was the property manager for the home prior to the drug bust and was the agent on the sale of the house to the Bloors.
After the Bloors bought the house, found out its history and reported it to the health department, they were barred from living in it or even collecting their personal belongings, family photos, keepsakes and tools Eddie Bloor needed for his siding business. They couldn't afford the $13,400 it would cost for a hazardous waste cleanup company to decontaminate the property, and the Fritzes rebuffed attorney Rayan's demands to pay for it.
Burglars later broke into the house and stole everything of value. The Bloors currently reside in Spokane.
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