Mold-Help.org - The world's largest TOXIC MOLD website
  • Mold Basics
    • Mold Overview
    • Mold Symptoms
    • Mold Types & Images
    • Fungal Infections
  • Resources and Tools
    • Home Care
    • Health & Diet
    • Tips for Parents
    • Coping with Loss
    • Private Research
    • Legal Suggestions
    • Mold in the Bible
  • Mold News
    • Current Headlines
    • “Sick Buildings”
    • The Environment
    • Construction Industry
    • Govt. & Politics
    • The Workplace
    • Landlords & Tenants
    • Insurance Companies
    • Schools & Institutions
    • Strange Fungal Tales
    • Personal Mold Stories
    • Additional Articles
  • Agencies & Experts
  • About Mold-Help
    • Mold-Help News
  • Search
  • Menu Menu
  • Twitter
  • Facebook

Real Estate Industry Conjures Up Foolish Marketing Plot to Avoid Liability

June 30, 2005/in Construction Industry /by Carolyn Willbanks

By Cheryl Stevens, Guest Commentary

Washington, DC – “Buy land,” Will Rogers once said. “They ain’t making any more of it.”  What Will Rogers didn’t know about at the time was that lobbyists for the real estate industry would assist in forming laws that are not only beneficial for realtors, but negative for the public.

Case in point: embedded in the fine print in a standard earnest money agreement contract lies a little clause that states if anything goes awry with the purchase of a home, for example, the buyer or seller are signing their rights to litigate away.  Instead, they must rely on the fate of a hired arbitrator to make the final decision in any suit arisen from the purchase of that house.  Let’s say you purchased a home where the sellers or builders failed to disclose a known mold problem or construction defect.  Would you prefer a retired lawyer or a jury to decide your case?  Anyone who purchases a home has a legal right to ‘X’ out that clause and refuse to agree to a binding arbitration agreement, but few do since it is not explained in full detail during the time a bid is made on a prospective home. Many realtors rely on the ignorance of the buyer to do as they may.

Over 40% of Mold Problems in Homes Due to Real Estate Transactions

This efficacy of realtors has being challenged recently due to the barrage of litigations involving fraud, misrepresentation, and conflict of interest as a result of household mold. Over 40% of all mold problems in homes are the result of a real estate transaction, involving thousands of realtors and brokers into costly defense litigation. Therefore, they have united to create new public relations operation aimed at homeowners with the appearance of an ‘education campaign’. As of July 1, these public service announcements will hit the airwaves sponsored by the National Center for Housing and the Environment (NCHE) and supported by the National Association of Realtors.

This promotion appears to be very one-sided – only telling one side of the untold mold story.  Creepy mold creatures lurking under a leaky sink illustrate how moisture can lead to serious damage in the home. Viewers and listeners are goaded to visit a strange website where they can ‘learn’ more about the causes of moisture problems in the home and how to solve them.

What they fail to address is that many mold problems have nothing to do with maintenance, but are the result of construction defect, shoddy materials, and acts of God.  Additionally, one of the links on the website is infamous and controversial Institute of Medicine Damp Indoor Spaces and Health Report which is incomplete and only studies non-infectious diseases. This paper is very misleading as it fails to cover the important health hazards of fungal exposure. “They (the authors) purposely left out the neurological health issues that have been disabling mold patients,” states Dr. Robert Johnson from Newport News, Virginia. “I suppose the government doesn’t want to tell civil service employees, prisoners, military personnel, and students that their public buildings could be the culprit of autoimmune disease and cognitive problems.”

Physicians are not the only ones who question the validity of this report.  Due to the deceptive content, is in the process of being disputed.  Scott Whitenack, an attorney from California is in the process of trying to have the IoM Paper and ACOEM Report de-published. “These papers were clearly written for defense attorneys in courtrooms across America,” states Whitenack.  With over 3,500 published papers available that explain the permanent neurological, immunological, pathalogical, and psychological damage that mold can cause, it makes one suspicious why organizations such as this resort to using incomplete and questionable data such as this.

Due to the unethical nature and motive of this website, we do not endorse any alleged good faith attempts of www.stopmold.org. We urge you to give your opinions.  You may also send your comments and feedback to the head of this “task force” (below).

Sharon Oxley, Executive Director
National Center for Housing and the Environment
1156 15th Street, NW, Suite 510
Washington, DC 20008
202-822-4645
soxley@housingandenvironment.org

Real Estate Industry Conjures Up Foolish Marketing Plot to Avoid Liability, By Cheryl Stevens, Guest Commentary

Discuss this topic here.

Disclaimer: This article is solely the opinion of the above credited author, therefore, does not necessarily reflect the opinions of Mold Help; its contributors, writers, advisors, or affiliates.  Mold Help is not liable for the content of this commentary.  MH provides this public service as a right to freedom of speech but by doing such; assumes no responsibility of this submission whatsoever.  Any inquiries to the author can be sent to this site and will be forwarded to the author if deemed appropriate.

Carolyn Willbanks
Author: Carolyn Willbanks

Tags: mold, toxic mold, www.stop.org, realtors, Sharon Oxley, NCHE, IoM report damp indoor spaces
Share this entry
  • Share on Facebook
  • Share on Twitter
  • Share on Reddit
  • Share by Mail
https://www.mold-help.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/moldhelp-654x300.png 0 0 Carolyn Willbanks https://www.mold-help.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/03/moldhelp-654x300.png Carolyn Willbanks2005-06-30 14:12:462019-03-08 17:20:54Real Estate Industry Conjures Up Foolish Marketing Plot to Avoid Liability
You might also like
Mold-Help logo High Levels Of Black Mold Found In Pine Ridge Reservation Homes
Mold-Help logo A Pilot's Peril
Mold-Help logo Colorado Springs Mom Says Toxic Mold at Children's Former School Made Them Sick
Mold-Help logo Music Exec Miffed By Mold Sues To Leave Fisher Island
Mold-Help logo Mold and Toxic Burden
Mold-Help logo Pollen Low But Rising; Mold Levels High

Mold News

  • Current Headlines
  • "Sick Buildings"
  • The Environment
  • Construction Industry
  • Govt. & Politics
  • The Workplace
  • Landlords & Tenants
  • Insurance Companies
  • Schools & Institutions
  • Personal Mold Stories
  • Strange Fungal Tales
  • Additional Articles

Latest Posts

  • Michigan Family Finds Toxic Mold Inside Home
  • California Winter Storms: Water Damage and Mold Exposure Concerns in California
  • Office and Commercial Buildings at Risk for Mold after COVID-19 Closings
  • COVID-19 Symptoms May Include Loss of Taste and Smell
  • New Mold Detox Information on the Horizon
  • COVID-19 Courses of Action
  • Stachybotrys
  • Simple and Easy Ways to Prevent the Coronavirus
  • Your Air Conditioning Unit Helps Eliminate Mold
  • Construction Workers Are Learning to Control Dust and Debris

Search Our Site:

Need Help with Mold?

Are you being affected by mold or other mycotoxins in your environment? Our team and community has over 15 years experience and can provide guidance. You can reach us by submitting your contact or through our Facebook page.

Have a Story to Share?

We're looking for stories and input to expand our database and to add to the personal experiences we've received from the thousands of victims over the last 15. If mold has impacted your life, please take the time to share your story. Your information is confidential and will only be shared with your permission.

Seeking Mold Experts

Are you an expert in the treatment of mold-affected health illnesses, or a provider of services to victims of mycotoxin exposure? Submit your information for listing consideration in our Agencies & Experts resource database.

Additional Resources

  • Contact Us
  • Sitemap
  • Glossary of Terms
  • Survivor Resources
  • General Inquiries
  • Legal Disclaimer

© Copyright - Mold-Help Organization
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Mold Basics
  • Resources and Tools
  • Agencies & Experts
  • Mold News
  • About Mold-Help
Scroll to top

This site uses cookies. By continuing to browse the site, you are agreeing to our use of cookies.

OKLearn more

Cookie and Privacy Settings



How we use cookies

We may request cookies to be set on your device. We use cookies to let us know when you visit our websites, how you interact with us, to enrich your user experience, and to customize your relationship with our website.

Click on the different category headings to find out more. You can also change some of your preferences. Note that blocking some types of cookies may impact your experience on our websites and the services we are able to offer.

Essential Website Cookies

These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features.

Because these cookies are strictly necessary to deliver the website, refusing them will have impact how our site functions. You always can block or delete cookies by changing your browser settings and force blocking all cookies on this website. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site.

We fully respect if you want to refuse cookies but to avoid asking you again and again kindly allow us to store a cookie for that. You are free to opt out any time or opt in for other cookies to get a better experience. If you refuse cookies we will remove all set cookies in our domain.

We provide you with a list of stored cookies on your computer in our domain so you can check what we stored. Due to security reasons we are not able to show or modify cookies from other domains. You can check these in your browser security settings.

Other external services

We also use different external services like Google Webfonts, Google Maps, and external Video providers. Since these providers may collect personal data like your IP address we allow you to block them here. Please be aware that this might heavily reduce the functionality and appearance of our site. Changes will take effect once you reload the page.

Google Webfont Settings:

Google Map Settings:

Google reCaptcha Settings:

Vimeo and Youtube video embeds:

Accept settingsHide notification only