Lawsuits seize on new culprit: mold

[Guest guest]

Lawsuits seize on new culprit: mold

Litigants blame mold for severe health problems. But it is uncertain

how harmful the fungus really is.

By GRAHAM BRINK, Times Staff Writer

Published September 17, 2005

http://www.sptimes.com/2005/09/17/Northpinellas/Lawsuits_seize_on_new

..shtml

CRYSTAL BEACH - Doug Summers won't enter the triplex on Avery Avenue

without a hazmat suit and a full-face respirator.

He's worried about mold. Not just any mold, but the kind that can

make you sick, said Summers, a certified indoor environmentalist.

" I have not seen a building with readings so high, " Summers said. " I

wouldn't live there. "

He has run tests in connection with a Pinellas County lawsuit

brought by tenants who rented the three units.

The tenants say they have suffered a slew of medical woes since

moving in, including respiratory problems, memory loss and extreme

fatigue. Most have moved out, but they want their rent and deposits

back and compensation for their ailments.

The owners of the complex and the management company dispute that

the mold levels are high enough to cause injury. They accused one

set of tenants of trumping up the claim by " farming mold " in their

unit.

Mold has become a hot area of litigation, with thousands of similar

disputes playing out across the country in recent years.

The number of cases and the potential liability has insurance

companies, home builders, landlords and property managers looking

for cover.

The relationship between mold and serious ill health, however,

remains cloudy. The uncertainty only exacerbates the disputes.

* * *

Mold is everywhere.

It is the most common fungus and comes in many species. Mold growth

helps produce cheese, beer and bread. Penicillin is a byproduct of

mold.

Unless you live in a hermetically sealed bubble, you are breathing

it right now. It's in your home, your office, your car. So-called

fresh air is often loaded with mold.

Molds thrive in moist environments. The characteristic helps explain

why many of the lawsuits stem from some sort of water damage that

allowed abnormally high amounts of mold to take root and spread.

Unchecked water damage also can breed particularly virulent types of

mold, some experts say.

That's what happened to the triplex at 307 Avery Ave., according to

the plaintiffs.

Whitman moved into the middle unit with her husband and

three children in April. They liked the quiet, dead end street. The

three bedroom, two bathroom apartment rented for $895 a month.

Whitman felt sick within days. Her doctor diagnosed it as anxiety.

Later, she got thrush, a contagious disease caused by fungus. She

went to the emergency room with respiratory problems, she said.

Her 4-year-old daughter developed full-blown asthma and her husband

began forgetting things, she said.

Whitman wasn't sure what was causing the problems, but after

searching the Internet, she began to suspect mold.

" It fit everything that was going on, " Whitman said. " My husband had

also found mold while doing some work on the building. "

Whitman contacted the property management company. She said she got

the feeling the company only wanted to move them out and get new

tenants in without remedying the problem.

" That's when I contacted a lawyer, " she said. " I didn't want anyone

else to get sick. "

* * *

Summers, the indoor air expert, visited the triplex in July with

Scoobie M.D., his certified mold sniffing dog.

The Whitmans and the other plaintiffs hired him to look for any mold

and collect samples. He walked in without his hazmat suit or a

respirator. He doesn't like to alarm people unnecessarily.

Summers collected samples from several locations using varying

techniques for about four hours. Afterward, his eyes burned. He felt

ill for a few days.

" It was obvious something bad was happening inside, " he said. " I

felt sorry for the people living in there. "

An independent lab tested the collected samples. The mold levels

were way above average, according to the lab. A handful of

subsequent tests confirmed similar levels in the two other units in

the triplex.

Summers found visible fungal growth in several areas, including the

enclosed garages, a bathroom and near a leaky window. The interior

of a truck owned by one of the tenants had a fuzzy growth on the

steering wheel and seats.

Stan Stoudenmire, a environmental specialist with the Pinellas

County Health Department, recommended in a letter to the Whitman's

lawyer that all the building's tenants immediately contact their

doctors.

" These mold counts, in my opinion, represent a threat to the

tenants " Stoudenmire wrote.

Stoudenmire and Summers were both particularly concerned with the

high level of aspergillus and stachybotrys, sometimes referred to as

toxic black mold.

Stachybotrys does not breed overnight. It requires a lot of moisture

for a long period of time, Summers said. It can also give off a

dangerous mycotoxin gas.

Summers never went back in the building without a respirator and

protective equipment.

* * *

A few years ago, mold was barely on the judicial radar. The small

number of claims were usually settled for a few thousand dollars.

Then came the Ballard case.

Melinda Ballard and Ron 's 7,400 square foot mansion near

Austin, Texas, became infested with mold. and the couple's

son suffered neurological and respiratory problems. Their insurance

company refused to pay on the mold claim.

A jury awarded the couple $32-million. It was later reduced to $4-

million.

The case thrust mold into the judicial spotlight. A flood of

lawsuits followed. About 10,000 are currently pending across the

country, experts estimate.

The average payout rose, as well. Six and seven figure settlements

became routine. Most of the cases never went to trial.

" It's not that insurance companies thought that all the claims had

merit, " said Loretta Worters, vice president of the Insurance

Information Institute. " They couldn't risk such huge losses.

Sometimes it's hard to counter hysteria. "

Experts agree that common molds can cause sinusitis, itchy eyes and

wheezing. People with acute mold allergies or asthma could face more

severe respiratory distress.

In rare cases, molds can trigger potentially fatal infections in

patients with compromised or immature immune systems. And eating

certain food-born molds can cause seizures.

After that, the consensus erodes.

Claims of cancer, miscarriages, memory loss and severe neurological

illness are met with skepticism from some researchers and especially

the attorneys who defend against mold claims. They argue that no

causal link has been proven between common mold exposure and severe

ill health, a claim supported by the Centers for Disease Control and

Prevention.

Others counter that researchers are only beginning to understand how

molds can affect humans. They argue that for decades, the government

did not officially recognize asbestos and smoking as acute health

risks, despite obvious signs to the contrary.

" Right now, there is still a lot of controversy, " Summers said. " I

think we'll see that change in the coming years. "

In the meantime, insurance companies have taken steps to mitigate

their liability. Many now exclude or severely limit mold claims in

homeowners policies. Home builders, landlords and property

management companies remain prime targets.

Some lawyers are filing suits without mentioning mold. Instead they

claim building owners or employers created " dangerous and hazardous

conditions. " The language can help plaintiff's avoid the mold

exclusions that most insurers are writing into their policies.

" The bottom line is that it's all about the money, " said Worters, of

the insurance institute. " That's where the lawyers see their next

dollar coming from. "

* * *

Langer feels like a victim of that greed. Langer is president

of LSI Real Estate Services, the company that manages the triplex in

Crystal Beach.

He disputes that the triplex, built in 1984, has a significant mold

problem. His company and the owners have hired their own specialist

to run tests, he said. He was confident they will show that mold

levels are normal.

Langer said the alleged ailments were likely a result of some of the

tenant's heavy smoking. He said mold was a convenient way for them

not to pay rent. He accused the Whitmans of trying to grow mold in

their upstairs bathroom.

" If you take any property and throw water on the floor, seal the

area and keep it at 115 degrees, mold will grow, " Langer

said. " That's what they did in that upstairs room. "

Dunedin lawyer Melinda Tindell, who represents the Whitmans and the

other tenants in the triplex, called Langer's claims absurd.

" The defendants willfully ignored problems that led to mold

infestation, " Tindell said. " Their negligence injured my clients. "

As evidence, she points out that an engineer who recently inspected

the building found problems that Langer's company and the owners

repeatedly failed to repair. Among them, chronic plumbing leaks that

damaged several areas and a sewage pipe leaking in one of the

garages.

The engineer also found saturated drywall, rotting floorboards and

evidence of shoddy repairs. The exterior walls of the garages did

not include a moisture barrier or any insulation.

Many of the problems had been ongoing for an extended period of time

and were conducive to mold growth, the engineer concluded in a

written report.

The owners of the building could not be reached for comment and

their lawyer did not respond to offers to refute the allegations.

Most of the tenants couldn't take much with them when they moved out.

The mold gets into clothes and furniture, anything with a porous

surface. Items must be thoroughly cleaned or the mold can be

transferred to a new location.

" There's no way I'd move back in, " Whitman said. " Even if it means

losing all of our stuff. "

- Graham Brink can be reached at 727 893-8406 or brink@...

[Last modified September 17, 2005, 02:35:50]