OKLAHOMA CITY — A state representative filed legislation to require full disclosure to renters if a home has been used to produce meth.

Oklahoma ranks in the top five states for meth use and production. House Bill 3021, by Seneca Scott, D-Tulsa, requires landlords to disclose to the prospective tenant if the rental property was used to aid in or manufacture methamphetamine in the past.

Muskogee Fire Chief Derek Tatum asked who would keep the database on the history of rental properties.

“It might be a good idea, but if you don’t put any money behind it, it falls by the wayside,” he said.

“I’d really need to look at this.”

“This is a public health issue that needs to be addressed so home renters know they are renting an unsafe property that could harm their family,” Scott said. “The public needs to know the lasting dangers meth labs can leave on property so they don’t go into a dangerous house blind.”

Gary Dunlap, Muskogee Realtor and landlord, said he probably wouldn’t know a meth lab if he saw one.

“I know what dirty is,” he said. “But how do I know the conduct of my tenants?”

He said there would be a lot of questions to be answered by somebody. How a landlord could effectively comply without bearing a lot of expense is one.

“I don’t know what’s required to make it safe,” he said. “I do know I wouldn’t want to rent a house I wouldn’t want to stay in.”

He wants to know how landlords could comply — would the health department do the certification?

“I’m sympathetic to the state representative’s ideas — but there are a lot of questions to be answered,” Dunlap said.

Meth lab seizures have gone up 577 percent nationally since 1995. The fumes created by meth production can saturate a dwelling and remain a health problem even after the original lab is destroyed unless extensive cleaning procedures are conducted.

“This is a proactive first step in keeping Oklahoma property and residents safe from meth labs,” said R. Darrell Weaver, director of the Oklahoma Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs Control. “It is very easy to see the damages and dangers of a meth lab when it is running, but what about all the damages and dangers after the labs are out of the picture. We need to protect our citizens better. I applaud Representative Scott’s efforts.”

Currently, by law, real estate agents have to tell a buyer of a home if the property used to be a meth house in the past. Scott said that should be carried over to rental properties.

Sand Springs just passed a city ordinance that forces owners of rental properties that have been used as meth labs to clean up the dwellings before renting them again. The city of Mannford also has passed a similar ordinance.

“It is time the whole state follows suit and we start protecting our citizens from unsafe property,” Scott said.

House Bill 3021 passed the House Economic Development and Financial Services Committee this week. It now proceeds to the floor of the Oklahoma House of Representatives.