'Devil's House' leaves family fighting foreclosure

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'Devil's House' leaves family fighting foreclosure

KOMO - Seattle,WA*

By Schudiske

http://www.komotv.com/news/8394152.html

EDMONDS, Wash. -- The Nealey family is fighting to save itself and

stay out of bankruptcy and foreclosure. They call their home " The

Devil's House, " because they never expected their new home would

flood, fill with mold and sit just feet from toxic waste.

The 1940s farmhouse near Edmonds in Snohomish County has curb appeal

even now. The Nealeys thought this would be their dream home. That

is, until the bloody noses, migraines and asthma began shortly after

they moved in.

The home is all but abandoned now. A poem's written in magnet words

in their eldest child's bedroom. The first five words of the

teenager's poem read, " Relax you are a prisoner. "

" We thought it was perfect, " Nealey said of her first

impressions of the house. " It was beautiful and we thought it was

going to be our dream house. "

There's even a white picket fence and private stream in the backyard

of their $360,000 dollar home. Just weeks after and

Nealey closed the deal in 2001, heavy rains gorged the steam.

videotaped one of the following floods. You can hear her

narrating as water rises in their home. She says, " Now we're

flooding again. "

The Nealeys say the house has flooded more than a dozen times.

Neighbors tell us halls creek has flooded for decades.

" We're just kind of doomed as we sit, " says from behind the

camera. She points out a black fuzz coating the interior of a

basement wall. says black mold festered in the home where she,

her husband, three kids and half dozen dogs lived.

" I was shocked, " she said. " It almost frightens you. I mean that's

pretty bad. "

In the middle of the flooding and the mold, years of personal and

industrial waste began percolating up from the middle of the

Nealey's backyard.

showed us through the thick brush pointing out trash, oil

drums and rusted car bodies from an old auto shop.

" The only way it could get worse is if they dug into the property

and found a burial site, " she said.

" We started having nose bleeds and respiratory infections, "

said, adding that her kids even started coughing up blood. Her two

older children now have asthma.

The Nealeys looked back at the property disclosure statement from

their sale and the " no " box is checked for a drainage problem on the

property, and " no " is checked again for damage to the house from

floods.

" We did all the things you're suppose to do, we had home

inspections, our mortgage company did flood determinations, we had a

title company look at stuff, no one found anything, " said.

The Nealeys sued their home inspector, only to find out their

contract allowed them to sue only for what they paid their

inspector -- less than $200. The Nealeys also sued the former owners

and their real estate company, Realty.

" You don't assume anything. " That's advice from Jeff Downer, who

represents real estate agent Wade Heyer and Realty.

Their insurance company paid the Nealeys $5,000 in a settlement this

year.

" It was a good business decision to make, and that's all it was, "

Downer said. " It was an explicit denial of any liability, because my

clients didn't do anything wrong. "

The Nealeys signed a hazardous materials form just before closing,

but they said they thought that meant any hazards had been removed.

But, the family the hazardous material remained.

" They received it, they read it, and signed it " Downer said of the

form.

The previous owners of the house, and Sari Davy, would only

tell me they're shocked by everything that's happened to the Nealey

family. Their attorney did not return our calls.

Their insurance company paid the Nealeys $50,000 to settle. More

than half the settlement went to pay attorneys.

walks through the house looking at pictures, appliances and

furniture now collecting dust, and filling with mold. " We can't take

anything with us, " she said. " It's all contaminated. "

They don't have enough money to tear down and rebuild on higher

ground and, and they've run out of money for any other legal action.

The Nealey family moved three doors down with few belongings. " I

call it camping, except inside for the long term. "

They're still prisoners to a $2,600 a month mortgage.

" For a house we can't live in, can't sell and can't fix, "

said. Their last, desperate option: " I've contacted the Edmonds Fire

Department and asked if you'd do a control burn on this. "

The fire department's now considering burning the house down. The

Nealeys mortgage company may allow it. But, the Nealeys may still

face more heartache.

It could cost them more than $100,000 dollars to clean up the waste

in their own backyard. You can find a list of contaminated

properties on the state Department of Ecology web site.

The link would not have helped the Nealeys, though. The Department

of Ecology says the contamination on the Nealey's property was never

reported before the Nealeys called them.