Mold house saga ends in settlement

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06/09/2007

Mold house saga ends in settlement

http://www.troyrecord.com/site/printerFriendly.cfm?brd=1170 & dept_id=7021 & newsid=\

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By: Charniga , The Record

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.