Mold is Taking its Toll

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January 17, 2003 print edition Mold taking its TollKim Nilsen RALEIGH – Gates at the entrance to Brier Creek Country Club failed to keep out an unwanted visitor – mold. Now the intruder, which was detected last year in the walls of some townhouses at the golf course community, has prompted Brier Creek to offer a buyout to impacted residents. Officials with Brier Creek and its publicly traded parent company, Toll Brothers, issued a two-line statement in response to questions about mold-inspired moves. "The issue is limited to a few of the homes at Brier Creek Country Club. The company is actively working with each of these residents to resolve the issue," the statement reads. The company declined to disclose either the number of homes involved or the estimated cost of the buyouts and interim housing. According to city building permits issued last summer, Brier Creek planned to spend about $90,000 to repair problems linked to the mold. The permits covered nine townhouse units in three buildings on White Eagle Court and Fawn Lake Drive, says Curt Willis, construction inspection administrator for the city. Sources close to the negotiations say the developer has offered to relocate some townhouse residents to new units and pick up the bill for any interim housing. The offer was even extended to some residents who didn't sign on with Dan Bryson, a lawyer with & representing some Brier Creek townhouse owners. Bryson could not be reached for comment. Brier Creek is slated to have about 200 townhouses in its Carriage section, where units start at a base sale price of $260,975. When completed, the gated community will have a total of 1,200 homes, the majority with views of an 18-hole Arnold Palmer golf course. Prices range from about $200,000 to more than $1 million. Toll Brothers, a luxury home builder based in Huntingdon Valley, Pa., reported $2.33 billion in revenue and net income of $219.9 million for the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, 2002. In 2000, a Fairfax County, Va., jury awarded a homeowner about $1 million in a synthetic stucco dispute suit against Toll Brothers. The home in that case developed a mold problem, according to published reports. Some legal pundits predict a so-called "mold rush," a flurry of litigation aimed at builders and insurance companies over the spores. While there are more than 100,000 types of mold, toxic mold and black mold have become buzzwords. Mold has been blamed for everything from eye irritation to memory loss and bleeding lungs. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there is no proof that mold can trigger the more severe reactions. Mold was the subject of a panel discussion at a Jan. 16 summit for real estate brokers hosted by the North Carolina Association of Realtors. The industry is grappling with who is qualified to inspect for and remove mold. The state's disclosure mandate asks home sellers and agents to provide information to prospective buyers about environmental hazards, making mold a potential resale issue. Ron Howell, an industrial hygiene consultant with the state's Division of Public Health, also worries about bad information and the number of people "jumping on the mold bandwagon," he says. Howell says mold is a problem and is generating 40 to 60 calls a week. Kim Nilsen can be reached at knilsen@....© 2003 American City Business Journals Inc.