KNOXVLLE, Tenn. (WVLT) – A lot of us choose where we live based on where our children would go to school, but what are the odds that your dream home once housed a meth lab, or some other drug factory?

The DEA has a registry that tells us Knox County has eight such properties, and all of East Tennessee has nearly three hundred.

Knowing where they are, not only is ammo to avoid danger, but it's leverage to ensure the seller follows the law.

“This is a pretty quiet neighborhood, from what I've seen.”

Quiet's a big part of why Joey Andrews and Pulaski moved to this part of Karns.

“No big problems, or anything.”

So when he hears that almost two and a half years ago police found what the feds call drug-making chemicals on a neighbor’s property, Joey Andrews says, “As far as environmentally, I'm a little bit concerned now.”

The Drug Enforcement Administration has registered 282 properties in East Tennessee busted as meth labs or drug sites. McMinn and Monroe counties each have more than 40.

Unless the home owner pays for a certified cleanup, certified meth lab remediator Dale Helton says, “(they) can't sell the property or occupy it either one.”

Brenda Albert with Rocky Top Realty says, “If the seller had any prior knowledge at all, they are required to disclose that to the potential buyer.”

Tennessee’s disclosure forms even list meth contamination specifically, but because they allow a seller to check a box saying he or she doesn't know for sure, Albert says it’s worth hiring your own inspector.

“A home inspection tells you the condition of the property from the roof to the dirt, and the more knowledge you have, the safer you are in your purchase.

Meth lab cleanups aren't easy, or cheap.

Helton says, “All fabrics have to be destroyed, that means not just removing them. A small house can take a week or so, Prices vary from maybe three-thousand dollars, on up to 50 or 60 thousand dollars.”

But Cleaner Dale Helton says Tennessee's standards are so strict that once finished.

“It's probably cleaner than it was when it started, actually.”

That, and a two-and-a-half year time lapse buys Joey Andrews some comfort, “but it would have been nice to know, moving in, if the renters, if the rental property knew about it.”

We've been unable to reach those who live in, or own the two out of Knox County’s eight properties we checked out that made the DEA’s list.

Under Tennessee law, selling a property without disclosing its meth lab past is inviting yourself to be sued.
If the buyer can show the seller acted recklessly, or callously, the seller could face criminal charges.

Want to see for yourself if your home is on the list? Click the link below.