Toxic-mold suit goes to trial

[Guest guest]

Statement by moderator: By this article that is presented, it sounds

like the toxins from mold/fungi have the same affect on animals as

on humans. I know, no surprise. But the experts are having a very

difficult time determining the affects on humans and animals. It's

not hard folks, just connect the dots (on the walls, floors, etc.)

Toxic-mold suit goes to trial

'Dream home' turns into a nightmare for retired couple

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/042105/REG_B66QEJTH.033.shtml

Thursday, April 21, 2005

BY GARY L. SMITH

OF THE JOURNAL STAR

LACON - A five-year-old lawsuit over a toxic mold-infested, rotting

house standing empty in a lakeside subdivision went to trial

Wednesday in Marshall County Circuit Court.

Gerald and Caroline Stoddart bought the two-bedroom ranch at Lake

Wildwood for $68,500 in July 1999, envisioning it as their

retirement " dream home " as they moved from a house they had just

sold in Marseilles.

But on the day after moving in, they discovered the flooring

had " soft spots " from rotting wood. And by the end of that year,

they had hurriedly moved out after a series of increasingly

specialized inspections found so much deterioration in the home

caused by mold originating in a crawl space that experts said it was

no longer safe to occupy, the couple's Chicago attorney told the

jury seated Wednesday.

An expert " will testify that the mold was eating the house, " said

attorney Sigale.

Since moving out, the Stoddarts have lived in a series of three

rental houses while their planned retirement home stood empty and

unlivable. And the beloved St. Bernard dogs they once took on

volunteer therapy visits to nursing homes have died from central

nervous system disorders the Stoddarts believe were caused by the

mold.

" They died as a result of the mold. They died paralyzed, " Caroline

Stoddart testified.

The Stoddarts, now both 73, originally sued both previous owner

Virginia Landers of Chicago and real estate broker Tamela Durham of

Lake Wildwood in 1999 for allegedly failing to disclose information

about the condition. A Marshall County judge issued a summary

judgment in the defendants' favor, but that was eventually

overturned by the 3rd District Appellate Court in Ottawa.

In the meantime, Landers died, so the defendants are now Durham and

Landers' estate, administered by her son, Landers of Chicago,

who had been living in the house.

Also, Landers' original attorney was Bauer, who has since

become Marshall County state's attorney, so Kleczik of Peoria

is now representing Landers' estate and Landers.

And the Stoddarts' original attorney was Galley, who is now

the presiding judge in Marshall County. So the case is being heard

by Circuit Judge Shore of Putnam County.

The contention in the case before a jury of seven women and five men

is that Landers and Durham not only failed to disclose information

as required by state real estate law, but fraudulently concealed it.

" What the evidence is going to say is that (the defendants) knew it

and they did not tell the Stoddarts, " Sigale told the jury.

Kleczik emphasized that all the information about toxic mold and

structural damage was acquired after the Stoddarts bought the house

and moved in. There is no evidence of the prior knowledge required

to prove fraud, he maintained.

" The real facts of this case hinge on what was known and what

occurred before the sale, " he said.

Durham's attorney, Troy , called attention to the fact that

the Stoddarts had not ordered an independent home inspection or

appraisal, nor were they represented by an attorney, even though

their rights to such things were spelled out in the real estate

contract.

" There are a lot of things you chose not to do, " told

Caroline Stoddart during cross-examination.

The Stoddarts " want their money back " for the house and various

expenses, Sigale said, though no amount was specified.