Fort Stewart, GA – Kathy Jones knew what to look for when she walked into Brittin Elementary School to check out the $4 million renovation. If she saw it, she would feel better about her fifth-grade daughter returning to a building that made her sick last year. “We can tell by the floor,” Jones said. […]
Milford, CT – “We needed more money because asbestos was discovered under the gym floor,” said Director of Management Services Philip G. Russell, referring to the gym floor replacement project at Jonathan Law High School. The Board of Aldermen’s Ordinance Committee will consider borrowing the money at 7 p.m. Monday at City Hall. A proposed […]
You’ve heard of Radon, asbestos and lead paint. Now meet the newest official pollutant – mold. Mold is a biological pollutant, a fungi that grows in moist conditions. Molds are found in up to 50 percent of all structures, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA.) And it could kill your next real estate deal. […]
Toxic mold will soon be a household phrase. Insurance companies are under siege with claims from homeowners who say this mold is making them sick, and it could cost billions to clean it up. Recently a jury awarded a Texas family $32 million when they claimed mold in their home caused them to have neurological […]
Springfield, MO – Kickapoo High School students returning on Wednesday and the rest of this week to pick up their class schedules are being barred from some first-floor corridors, classrooms and lockers while workers clean up mold in ceiling tiles, on surfaces and in the air. The whole area is cordoned off by heavy sheets […]
Sacramento, CA – Tenants at Sacramento’s Ardendale Apartments started seeing warning signs a few months ago, warning that their complex “contains chemicals known to cause cancer and birth defects.” “It scares me in the sense that, where exactly and how exactly are these chemicals going to affect me?” said tenant Ryanne Durnin. The property manager, Cynthia […]
Most landlord-tenant relationships go smoothly. However, problems sometimes arise. For example, what if the rental unit’s furnace goes out in the middle of the winter? What happens if the landlord sells the building or decides to convert it into condominiums? This section discusses these and other possible issues and problems in the landlord-tenant relationship. Repairs […]
7/22/02 WEST CHESTER TWP. OH- Residents of one of Greater Cincinnati’s largest apartment complexes may have been exposed to potentially dangerous toxic mold as their landlord prevented health officials from helping. Butler County Department of Health representatives described the mold infestation at Woodbridge on the Lake apartments as one of the worst they had ever […]
12/4/99 When you sign a lease committing yourself to a unit in an apartment complex or building, you’re agreeing to live in close quarters with strangers. You’re also making the assumption that your building will be properly managed and maintained. That includes such factors as air quality and adequate pest control. As a tenant, you […]
9/ 7/02 Kingfisher, OK – Mold troubles at a Kingfisher apartment complex are closer to being resolved following a judge’s order Wednesday. The judge agreed to modify a temporary restraining order on the owner of the Meeker Meadows complex. He can now start cleaning up the mold at the apartments, but has agreed to hold any […]
9/12/03 Wareham, MA – At least four tenants of the Depot Crossing low-income housing complex have left their apartments in the past year, complaining that mold from the basement was making them and their children sick. The moves came even before one of the complex’s buildings was condemned this week. Julie Florindo, who lived in Building […]
8/2/02 Kingfisher, OK – More than 20 people have joined in a federal lawsuit filed Wednesday against a Kingfisher apartment complex. The lawsuit alleges owners are responsible for a toxic mold that may have contributed to the death of a 5-month-old and left residents with breathing difficulties. The lawsuit states that Bayli Marie Keese died in […]
8/10/02 Sacramento, CA – Tenants of a Rocklin apartment complex are suing property owners over damage from “toxic mold” that caused upper respiratory problems, seizures, bloody noses, sinus infections and severe migraine headaches as well as contaminating everything from clothing to furniture. Concord attorney Richard P. Riley filed the complaint with Placer Superior Court on […]
8/28/03 Cincinnati, OH – A company managing a large Bond Hill apartment complex that wanted to evict hundreds of low-income tenants and close the facility has agreed to offer them relocation aid. Shortly before a hearing Friday afternoon in Hamilton County Common Pleas Court, attorneys for the tenants reached a compromise with the company managing […]
10/16/02 Detroit City, MI – Perralene Madison, 62, says she never had to live with roaches, until now. Myldred Wray, another senior citizen, says she never lived with black mold growing on her walls, until now. Madison and Wray were among a group of residents who appeared before the Detroit City Council on Tuesday to […]
7/19/02 The Texas Department of Insurance has launched an investigation to determine if new homeowner policy restrictions by Farmers Insurance Co. violate state law. At issue is the decision by the second-largest company in Texas to stop selling new policies for homes that have had a water damage claim during the past three years, and […]
What’s the best way to get rid of mold? The insurance industry has an answer: Exclude it 8/09/02 Los Angeles, CA – State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance, the largest home insurer, has eliminated coverage for mold in 33 states, including South Carolina. Even if the mold is the result of storm damage covered by a […]
7/20/02 Dallas-TX – On the heels of threats from the state, Farmers Insurance Co. backed away Friday from new homeowners policy restrictions tied to water and mold claims. The conciliatory move by the state’s second-largest home insurer came as the state allowed insurance companies to begin selling homeowners insurance policies commonly used in other states, […]
12/3/2 Sacramento, CA – State Farm General, the California arm of the nation’s largest home insurer, plans to suspend writing homeowner policies for new customers in the state as of May 1. The decision, conveyed Friday to State Farm agents in California, was perhaps the first major salvo in insurers’ efforts to recover losses resulting […]
1/11/03 Ft. Worth, TX – Mold has been the subject of much discussion lately within the insurance industry, as well as by others affected in their own right, such as lawyers, environmental consultants and consumer groups. And it seems like every time the subject comes up, it doesn’t take long for someone to chime in […]
Molds occur naturally in almost all indoor environments. Mold spores may also enter a home through open doorways and windows, or heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems. Most homeowners would benefit from a few helpful tips which might prevent or reduce the formation of molds in their home and keep any possible mold damage to […]
The doctors at Yale set me for allergy testing. The testing showed I was very allergic to mold. The doctors at Yale decided to remove me from school for three weeks to see if the infections would clear. It did.
The Wausau School District will clean Lincoln Elementary School to rid it of three types of mold in time for classes to resume in the fall. The school was closed Tuesday after tunnels running under the school tested positive for three types of mold – stachybotrys chartarum, cladosporium and aspergillus – and summer classes were […]
Environmental toxins called proteasome inhibitors cause a Parkinson’s disease-like movement disorder in rats, according to new research. The findings suggest that these natural toxins may contribute to the development of Parkinson’s in humans. Proteasome inhibitors are produced by bacteria and fungi. Humanmade proteasome inhibitors also find their way into the environment. “These results suggest that […]
NOTE TO EDITORS: The following represents the opinion of IAGA ROCKVILLE, MD — A recent report by the Institute of Medicine, which finds an association between conditions caused by indoor dampness and a laundry list of health effects, has largely been misunderstood and misrepresented among members of the general media. The Institute of Medicine has […]
LOS ANGELES – Actor Nicholas Turturro has settled a lawsuit against a man who sold him a home in 2002 allegedly infested with toxic mold, lawyers said. Turturro, who played Detective James Martinez on ABC’s “NYPD Blue” from 1993-1998, claimed in the suit that Steven A. Berman of suburban Woodland Hills knowingly sold him a […]
Following this is Beverly Weikert’s testimony, prepared in Jan. 2002, for a State of Indiana presentation: Nov. 2000 – Weikert family lost owned home of 10 years, lifetime belongings, and health due to severe hidden long term leaks and mold infestation in their manufactured family home – one that had been damaged during installation and supposedly […]
LOS ANGELES– Farmers Insurance Group of Companies today was sued by Melinda Ballard alleging libel as a result of a defamatory and false statement. Ms. Ballard is a Farmers claimant who received an outrageous $32 million dollar award in Travis County over water leak claims on her home that she purchased in 1990 for $275,000 […]
I purchased a brand new mobile home in March 2003, I started having problems right away. When the company moved my trailer in it was raining really hard. Then they leveled the home in the mud. My roof looks like a mini roller coaster ride. I have 3 bathrooms in my home and only 1 […]
Trichothecenes are mycotoxins (secondary metabolites or chemicals) primarily produced by various species of Fusarium (T-2, HT-2 and DAS), Trichoderma and Stachybotrys (black mold). They are toxic to humans, other mammals, birds, fish, a variety of invertebrates, plants and bacteria. The effects of poisoning will depend on the particular toxin, the concentration of exposure, length of […]
5/22/03 Houston, TX – For the last two months, Bob and Kathy McCord have been suburban refugees. They were forced out of their four-bedroom house in Dallas because of toxic mold, which they say has been festering under the floors and walls since a water pipe burst this spring. “The mold got so bad,” said […]
12/23/03 Pottstown, PA – Rain and humidity proved to be a dangerous combination last summer when many local schools were overrun by mold, causing inconvenience for parents, teachers and students. Many students had an untraditional start to the school year when officials in the Boyertown, Daniel Boone, Pottstown, Pottsgrove and Upper Perkiomen school districts announced their […]
The fungus Rhizictonia leguminicola growing in red clover produces a compound that, when consumed by cattle, results in profuse salivation (hence the name “slobber syndrome”), which is relatively common throughout the Midwest. The compound itself is not to toxic before being consumed but is transformed by the animal into a toxin compound.
4/12/03 Los Angeles, CA – Former “Tonight Show” sidekick Ed McMahon settled a lawsuit against the last of several defendants he sued for toxic mold that allegedly sickened him and his wife, killed his pet and made his Beverly Hills mansion unlivable. McMahon, 80, agreed to accept $230,000 to resolve the dispute, court documents revealed […]
Eugene, OR – On Saturday afternoon, what was supposed to be the dream house of the O’Hara family will be burned to the ground. Mark and Mary Jane O’Hara believe that the home, off Spencer Creek Road south of Eugene, Oregon, has become contaminated with toxic mold that made them and their two children sick. […]
Stopping the use of band-aid drugs may save your life with the right resources. Bethesda, MD – Scientists sponsored by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health, have discovered another link between fungal exposure and immuno-response, possibly leading to compromised immune system complications. It has long […]
First of all I would like to thank Susan for giving me all the info on “stachy” and the horrible terrible affects of it. Before moving into an apartment, which at the time I had no idea there was mold. I was a very healthy person and had hardly ever seen a doctor, I had […]
Aspergillus fumigatus is a mold that is common in most soils. This species is usually involved in decay of plant materials. The mold commonly causes stored grains to heat and decay and, under certain conditions, invades grain in the field. The problem is serious world-wide where beans, corn, rice, peanuts, wheat, milk, eggs and meat […]
11/13/03 Guest commentary by Brandon Scott, Newsreal? Austin, TX – In a (in the early days) somewhat high-profile case involving a mold-damaged home, a state appeals court today reduced a jury verdict against Farmers Insurance Group from $32 million to $4 million plus interest and attorneys fees. Many questioned the fact that the “mansion” involved was considered […]
“For most of us, the county complex barely even exists.” Sorry if today’s column is a little dusty. So is everything else in my life right now. Monday’s powerful windstorm filled my house with a thin layer of grit. None of the windows were left open, but they can all use some weather treatment apparently. […]
An annex at East High School has been closed because of excessive mold while students are being screened for possible health problems resulting from the contamination. Nurses began screening students and several classrooms remained closed Thursday as officials worked to protect East High School from a contaminant normally associated with tile grout: mold. Seventh- through […]
Niagara Falls NY – A Niagara Falls firehouse is closed indefinitely Thursday – not because of budget cuts, but because of black mold. It was moving day at Firehouse #9 in Niagara Falls. Firefighters spent the day covering cups, dishes and other equipment. Battalion Chief Dennis Long said, “We’ve had mold develop in the fire […]
Alberta, Canada – Kathie and Dale Derman with three of their children and nephew Anthony, can no longer live in their Stoney Plain house due to the severe health problems they endured due to black mold in their house. Today, Kathie and Dale Derman are hoping to get permission to destroy their house, contents and all, including a […]
Recent discoveries of toxic mold in Davis housing complexes have raised questions about property owners’ responsibilities and tenants’ rights to information when unhealthy mold is found in residences. UC Davis junior Alicia McNease said she and her roommate had to leave their Wake Forest Drive apartment on June 28 because tests showed that high levels […]
SAN ANTONIO — After getting word that University of Texas at San Antonio administrators were shutting down their dorm following the discovery of mold, students began settling temporarily into area hotels. The mold was discovered about three weeks ago. Inspectors noticed a wall collapsing inside one of the rooms at Chisholm Hall, the same residence […]
AUSTIN – In a move that is likely to worsen the snowballing insurance crisis in Texas, Farmers announced Tuesday that it would join the state’s largest insurer in halting the writing of new homeowners policies in the state. The move, which Farmers blamed on threatened fines by the Texas Department of Insurance, means Texans can […]
Lexington County’s courthouse is closed again for at least two weeks while environmental workers look for mold. This new closure – the second in nine months – was ordered Friday by Circuit Judge Marc Westbrook, the county’s chief administrative judge. The courthouse and adjacent solicitor’s building will be shut down until Aug. 26. The county […]
11/09/03 Pasadena, CA – Something awful is happening to children at the Kings Villages housing complex, says longtime tenant Annie Williams. Many wake in the night with heavy nosebleeds, and have asthma so bad their mothers keep breathing machines by their beds. Some have rashes resembling ringworm. She says excessive mold in some units a by-product […]
A music industry executive who bought into the good life on Fisher Island says his luxury condominium is hopelessly infested with mold and he’s suing to give it back. Joseph Rascoff, who represents U2 and the Rolling Stones, claims construction defects and a faulty air conditioner allowed colonies of mold to spread throughout his three-bedroom […]
Boston, MA – And so the story grows… Mold seems to be everywhere these days, and not just in buildings. The problem, which some have likened to the new asbestos, is generating quite a bit of press these days. While it may not have reached asbestos-like proportions, it is a cause of concern for builders, […]
 
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