{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"Build Your Own Boat","title":"How Did a Tenant's Meth Contamination Turn a Banker Into an Entrepreneur and Public Policy Advocate? Kathi McCarty of Meth Toxins Awareness Alliance","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":2030,"description":"Episode SummaryWhen a tenant secretly manufactured methamphetamine inside Kathi McCarty's Colorado log cabin, she discovered that meth contamination in rental and residential properties is far more common than most homeowners, real estate agents, or insurance companies acknowledge — and that almost no legal or financial protections exist for victims. In this episode of Build Your Own Boat, McCarty, a 30-year veteran of residential real estate lending and retail banking, explains how that crisis became the foundation for her second-act business, the Meth Toxins Awareness Alliance. She walks through what she found on her own property, why standard remediation and insurance failed her, how she helped pass Colorado legislation (SB23-148) creating a public meth-contamination property database, and how she is now building a preventative product — a meth toxin smart alarm — plus a digital education course for real estate professionals, landlords, and homeowners. Her story is a candid, practical roadmap for any woman over 50 building an advocacy-driven business around a problem most people don't yet know they have.\nKey TakeawaysMeth contamination is far more common than the real estate industry acknowledges. After 30+ years in residential lending and retail banking, Kathi McCarty had never once heard meth contamination discussed as a real estate risk — until it happened to her own rental property.Standard remediation doesn't work for every property type. Because McCarty's home was a log cabin without interior drywall, the usual \"gut it to the studs\" remediation process wasn't possible, and the only approved alternative (chemical encapsulation) lacked long-term safety data.Property and tenant insurance policies typically exclude meth contamination and criminal-action damage, leaving homeowners financially exposed with no way to purchase additional coverage — a critical gap most owners don't discover until it's too late.Grassroots advocacy can change state law. McCarty...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/bQsbNia0IsmMmK-_EAZWTPLH0_5ooXLhZABkhXi9Cis/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS8zMjY3/NTllZmQ4ZTljNzVj/NTZmNzZiZTMzMmIy/ODBlNC5wbmc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}