Mold house saga ends in settlement

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Mold house saga ends in settlement

Troy Record - Troy,NY

By: Charniga, The Record

http://www.troyrecord.com/site/news.cfm?

newsid=18453338 & BRD=1170 & PAG=461 & dept_id=7021 & rfi=6

TROY - The woman who claims she was duped into buying a mold-tainted

home in Brunswick three years ago that led to her financial ruin

will get a settlement of $23,000.

An attorney who represents the Realtor for the seller of the house

in a lawsuit filed by e Choma, the buyer, said Friday a

$23,000 settlement in the case was offered and accepted.

Gruenberg, an attorney who represents Yearsley of Pittstown,

who acted as a Realtor for two relatives who sold 6 Magill Ave. to

Choma, said his client agreed to pay $1,000 toward the settlement

but won't admit wrongdoing.

A Department of State spokesman said this week Yearsley's license

could be revoked after as a result of a hearing July 16.

" The case settled. I settled this for quality of life, " Choma said

two hours after the hearing, adding she was advised by her lawyer,

Conner, not to disclose details of the agreement to the media.

A call placed to Conner Friday was not returned.

" There was a total settlement of $23,000. My client,

Yearsley, agreed to pay $1,000 of that amount. That was not out of

an admission of liability or wrongdoing on Mr. Yearsley's part, but

simply to avoid the ongoing cost of litigation, which we would have

incurred, " Gruenberg said.

Choma has estimated the debacle probably cost her about twice the

$105,000 she paid for the home, including the cost of furniture and

other property she abandoned along with the home after these items

became contaminated with toxic mold spores.

According to Gruenberg, Yearsley's former broker, Kathleen Weeks,

agreed through her lawyer to pay $2,000, while Capitol Home

Inspections LLC agreed to pay $5,000. The insurance carriers of two

policies held by and Yearsley, who sold the house to

Choma, agreed to pay $15,000 according to Gruenberg.

The settlement was offered during a conference at the Rensselaer

County Courthouse Friday morning which was called by Judge

Ceresia. The meeting came two years after Choma filed a lawsuit

following her abandonment of the house, which she lost to

foreclosure in a hail of debt tied to the purchase of the home.

Choma bought the home for $105,000 and says she was forced to

abandon it after a toxic mold infestation sickened her and her

daughter. She said an inspector she hired to look over the home

after she bought it, found two dormers had been improperly attached

to the roof, allowing water to leak into the home and causing wood

rot and created prime conditions for mold growth.

The inspector she hired to look at the home before she bought, it

didn't notice this and other shortcomings, which were detailed in a

separate report commissioned in September, 2003 by a couple who were

considering buying the home a month before Choma agreed to the sale.

This report, by Framingham Associates of Delmar, found the roof was

leaking and the foundation was crumbling and according to the

inspector, it caused the prospective buyers to back away from the

sale.

But five weeks later, the Yearsleys did not mention any of these

problems in a disclosure form they signed during the sale to Choma.

It is not clear how much of the money, if any, will be left over

after Choma pays lawyers' fees and a debt to the Internal Revenue

Service she says stems from a tax preparer's bad advice to write off

the home on her taxes.