Video - Tenants changed, but toxic mold stayed in rental house

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Tenants changed, but toxic mold stayed in rental house

KING5.com - Seattle,WA

By ROB PIERCY / KING 5 News

http://www.king5.com/health/stories/NW_051107WABmoldhouseLJ.5cce21d4.

html

MARYSVILLE, Wash. - For years, a local family couldn't figure out

why they were so sick - until they learned the mold in their rental

house was off the charts.

New renters had no idea about the mold problem They moved out and

others moved in, but the new tenants were never told of the

potential danger.

" Every since we moved in, nothing in our lives was the same, " said

renter Becky Woeppel.

For more than six years, Woeppel's family called a rental house in

Snohomish County home. Had she and her family lived there any

longer, Woeppel believes they might have died.

" I would have never guessed that my house could have made me sick, "

said Woeppel.

One year after moving into house, the family developed strange

illnesses. Her son started having crippling stomach pain and her

daughter severe intestinal problems.

" I went to the doctor, I was diagnosed with rheumatoid, " said

Becky. " My husband would come home and it was all he could do to

come up the stairs and sit down. "

Was it all bad luck or coincidence? At about the same time, the

Woeppels noticed staining on the ceiling and spots of mold. After

searching online, they found their symptoms matched those of mold

exposure. Woeppel called mold inspector Tom Keck.

" Almost everybody who calls me for an inspection is exhibiting some

sort of health issue, " said Keck.

Keck found that a leaky roof caused mold to grow in the attic

insulation. He took air samples and sent them to a lab in Oregon for

analysis.

The findings were disturbing. Lab manager Matt Visser wrote, " This

home is suffering from a major mold infestation… the

concentration... in the attic over the dining room is simply

enormous. "

" We've got two of the three deadliest types of mold in that house, "

said Woeppel.

Woeppel said she passed the findings on to the property manager of

the home, Century 21 North Homes Realty, and then moved out.

" This was biological warfare above my head, " said Woeppel.

Within a few weeks, Woeppel was shocked to see the home up for rent.

While the roof was replaced as they moved out, she was certain the

mold had not been cleaned up.

" Don't put another family in that house, " said Woeppel. " Don't do

that. That's wrong. That's outrageous. "

When KING 5 went to the home, there were two families living there

with young children. They say that the property manager told them

nothing of the mold.

So we asked Tom Keck to come back and re-inspect the home. In the

attic, he found the same moldy insulation he saw before.

" In order to do responsible remediation, all of that insulation

would have been removed and replaced, and it hasn't been, " said

Keck.

He also took another air sample and sent it to the same lab. Once

again they found mold in the attic, this time in lower quantities,

but still.

" The levels of contamination in the attic were five times what are

considered to be acceptable levels, " he said.

When given the results of the re-test, the new tenants were fuming.

" I don't want to be here. I want to move out right away, 'cause

there's no way I'd put my daughter's life in danger like this, " said

Kellar, tenant.

Perhaps the scariest part of this story is that this could happen to

anyone. There is no law requiring property managers or landlords to

disclose current or past mold infestations. And what's more, there's

not even a federal standard saying how much mold is too much.

" It's a complicated phenomenon in terms of trying to really get a

handle on how you identify the mold, " said Sen. Jeanne Kohl-Welles,

D-Seattle.

Kohl-Welles is very familiar with the mold issue. Two sessions ago

she helped pass a bill requiring landlords to give tenants a

pamphlet from the state health department which outlines the dangers

of mold, but she says there needs to be more.

" That there be some notification that it's there, and even better

would be that it has to be dealt with, so that new tenants that come

in are not exposed to the mold that is found, " said Kohl-Welles.

When asked about the mold, Century 21 North Homes Realty said they

had cleaned it up, but refused to provide any proof. When asked why

they didn't mention the mold infestation to the new renters, a man

claiming to be the office manager told KING 5, " We follow the laws. "

Becky Woeppel says that's the problem. Current laws are not enough.

She says it's time for change.

" My family suffered and no other family should have to go through

that, " said Woeppel.

The Woeppel family tried to get help from their local and state

health department as well as Snohomish County and the state attorney

general's office. But none of those agencies will intervene in

matters of private residence indoor air quality.