An Alberta couple have filed a lawsuit after buying a Langley home for $3 million and discovering there was a marijuana grow-op on the property.
Yuling Fu and Hongxing Jiang say that it was only after they bought the three-bedroom home on an acreage in May that they learned of the grow-op.
They say that mortgagees on the property at 2768 208 St., as well as the realtor who had conduct of the sale, were aware of the grow-op and took steps to conceal that fact from them.
“In the circumstances, the act of concealment of the illegal marijuana grow operation and the steps taken by the defendants constituted misrepresentation,” says the couple’s suit filed in B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver. “The misrepresentation was made to induce prospective purchasers, including the plaintiffs, to purchase the property.”
The mortgagees, identified as Terry Lessard and Cindy Lessard of Coquitlam, are named as defendants in the suit along with realtor Paul Quinn and his employer, Re/Max Colonial Pacific Realty Ltd.
In February, following foreclosure proceedings on the property, the Lessards were granted exclusive conduct of the sale of the home, subject to the approval of the B.C. Supreme Court. On May 9, the plaintiffs entered into a contract of purchase and sale for the property with the Lessards and made a down payment of $100,000 with their real estate agent, Bay Realty Ltd. The sale was approved by the court.
They say that the defendants denied access to their agent to certain areas of the property and knew access had been denied to an appraiser of the property. They’re seeking to have the court declare that the contract is void and to have their $100,000 deposit returned.
No response has been filed to the suit, which contains allegations that have not been tested in court.
Reached by phone, Cindy Lessard had no immediate comment. In an interview, Quinn denied the allegations, calling them “preposterous.”
Quinn, who has been in the real estate business for 35 years, said that all of the prospective buyers of the home were made aware that there had been a legal medicinal-marijuana grow-op on the property, which had a listing price of $1,495,000.
Quinn said that the buyers were lured by the prospect of earning $13,000 in monthly rental income and that when the plaintiffs learned they had overbid, they wanted out. “They completely realized, ‘Oh my God, what did we do?’ ”
