HABC loses challenge to $375K mold verdict

[Guest guest]

HABC loses challenge to $375K mold verdict

BARBARA GRZINCIC

Daily Record - Baltimore,MD*

Daily Record Managing Editor/Law

January 27, 2008

http://www.mddailyrecord.com/article.cfm?id=4145 & type=UTTM

The Housing Authority of Baltimore City must pay more than $375,000

to three people who were sickened by black mold and fungi in their

apartments, the Court of Special Appeals has held.

The unanimous three-judge panel upheld the award of non-economic

damages, which the HABC argued was " shocking and excessive. "

E. Nevin of the Law Offices of T. Nicholl, who

represented Roy, Louise Bills and nie Pratt, was gratified

by the holding and hoped the HABC would not challenge it further.

" It's unfortunate … they seem to put more effort into trying to

fight these cases than trying to fix the property, " he said.

Blackburn Riley, who handled the trial and appeal for the

HABC, was out of the office and did not return a call for comment on

Friday. Cheron Porter, a spokeswoman for the HABC, had not seen the

opinion and declined to comment.

`Years of neglect'

Roy, Bills and Pratt were residents of Homewood House, a converted

three-story schoolhouse that provides housing for people with

disabilities. Roy had arthritis, Pratt was a recovering addict with

mental depression, and Bills had been diagnosed with degenerative

spinal disease.

" The building itself was as ailing as were its tenants, and that is

the nub of the case, " retired Judge E. Moylan Jr. wrote for

the appellate panel. " It had been suffering from years of neglect at

the hands of the HABC. "

The evidence showed that the roof and ventilation system were in

poor repair, allowing water to infiltrate the building and pool at

the bottom of the elevator shaft. This led to the formation of

stachybotrys and penicillum/aspergillus, which the plaintiffs said

caused their respiratory distress and neurological damage.

In September 2006, the jury awarded Pratt, who was then 55, $175,000

in non-economic damages. Bills and Roy, both in their 60s, were

awarded $100,000 each. The plaintiffs were also awarded a small

amount for economic damages.

HABC appealed, and the court heard argument in November 2007.

" Obviously unable to mount any defense with respect to the condition

of the building itself, " Moylan wrote, " HABC focused its defense on

the [residents'] proof of the causal connection between the mold in

2200 Homewood Avenue and the medical conditions [they] suffered. "

But HABC's attack on the legal sufficiency of the evidence,

including the methods and conclusions of the plaintiffs' expert,

was " way off the mark, " Moylan wrote.

The court also rejected HABC's challenge to a jury instruction and

what Moylan deemed " a grab bag of complaints " that were made without

any indication of where, in the 1,235-page appellate record, the

objectionable testimony could be found.

Nevin, who filed the case in January 2005, said Pratt and Roy have

since moved out of Homewood House.

He has another mold case pending against HABC, on behalf of a client

in a different building. That case is scheduled for trial in June,

he said.

[Guest guest]

This just says it all....

" It's unfortunate … they seem to put more effort into trying to fight

these cases than trying to fix the property, " he said.

They collect rent, they should provide a SAFE place to live..