Suits filed over mold in homes

October 26, 2002

By Baker

Sun Staff

A Suquamish home buyer and a Bremerton renter have brought separate lawsuits

in Kitsap County Superior Court, claiming mold in their residences made them

and their families sick.

Mac and , a Seattle married couple, say in

one of the suits that they bought a home in the 6600 block of Maple Street

in Suquamish on Dec. 28, 2000, from Hertz of Bothell.

Hertz attested in a " real property transfer disclosure statement " that there

were no problems with mold, standing water or drainage on the property, the

suit said.

Further, it said, the buyer hired a firm called Northwest Home Inspection

Service to look for potential problems. The firm said nothing about mold.

Yet upon moving in Jan. 15, 2001, the couple found " large amounts of mold

growing in various rooms, " describing it as " a veritable mycological garden

of fungal life. "

The couple grew ill, with respiratory infections, nausea, headaches and

fatigue, the suit says. They gave up living in the home Feb. 7, three weeks

after moving in.

The lawsuit names Hertz and Northwest Home Inspection as defendants and

seeks unspecified damage.

In the other lawsuit, Ami Drake, on behalf of herself and her children,

Kring and Katelyn May, has sued Gill of Bloomfield, Colo.

Drake said she rented a home in the 700 block of Pearl Street in Bremerton

from Gill in May 1997. She saw no mold at first, she said, but soon was

combatting it after a water leak in the bathroom.

The blackish-green coating resisted bleach and Lysol, her suit said, and

periodic painting. She said Gill took no action to deal with it.

Her children got sick, she said. Infant Katelyn was hospitalized more than

once.

She contracted with a company called Healthy Buildings in December 2000, and

it found fungal contamination, the lawsuit said.

She also seeks unspecified damages.

Published in The Sun: 10/24/2002

Recommended Posts