BOH sympathetic but can't condemn mold house

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Pepperell Free Press

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BOH sympathetic but can't condemn mold house

By Don sson

Wednesday, August 03, 2005 - PEPPERELL -- and ,

financially down but not quite out in the wake of being forced to

lose their mold-infested home at 20A and B ee Road, asked the

Board of Health (BOH) for its help in seeing the house condemned, so

others might not suffer their fate.

Board members assured the es they would try to inform potential

buyers of the house's history and promised to speak to the building

inspector on their behalf.

BOH member Holly Bradman cautioned, however, that because the

es no longer own the property, the BOH must be " very careful "

in any action it takes.

" I've had my 15 minutes of fame, " said. " We've lost our

credit, we're still fighting a lawsuit, my husband is out of work,

and we're on food stamps. I thought we'd hit bottom, but apparently

we had a way to go. My concern is that the property will go up for

auction and an unsuspecting person will come across the house. "

said the little duplex contains an identified 32 varieties of

mold that created micro toxins that made her severely ill. She said

it had, until recently, been boarded up and that the mold must

surely be re-creating itself in strains that have not been

identified.

" The house looks like a bargain for the $135,000 that [the recent

owner] paid, but it isn't, " said. " Any property you need to

wear a HAZMAT suit to enter isn't. I hope [the board] can issue a

public document or posting to notify the public not to go in. "

The es' former home had been boarded up following their

eviction on doctor's orders. They have sued the former owner, both

Realtors and the home inspector to recover losses. After three

aborted auction attempts, the house was purchased from the bank on

April 27 this year, but, according to reports came across, it

was foreclosed upon six weeks later.

offered the board copies of documents concerning mold. She

referred members to a recently published book by Dr. Richie

Shoemaker, a land physician who has identified a " biotoxin

pathway " in DNA that indicates as much as 24 percent of the

population has a susceptibility to mold and lyme disease.

She said it has been proven lyme disease is misdiagnosed in many

cases because the victim's illness is actually related to mold.

" I agree it is a concern everyone should be aware of, " Bradman

said. " I'm not sure if we talk to the building inspector about

condemning it, but we can look at it. "

" The building inspector is the fellow to see, " said Chairman

Lambert. " Anybody buying the house we'll try to talk to. "

" I've come to understand big banks across the country are more

involved than we know, " said. " They are not going by any code

of ethics here. "

pointed out the property is not in the real estate multiple

listing service most probably, she felt, because a listing would

have mandated full disclosure to prospective buyers.

" The board is well aware of what's going on, " Lambert said.

asked if the ee Road house could once again be

boarded up because of the proximity of the rail trail and because

broken glass litters the yard.