Mold forces family out of Bradley Beach home

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Mold forces family out of Bradley Beach home

Asbury Park Press - Asbury Park,NJ*

By Bill Bowman • COASTAL MONMOUTH BUREAU • August 10, 2008

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AID=/20080810/NEWS01/808100410/1004

McBride's life these days is centered on help: giving it and

getting it.

McBride, 45, said he, his wife, , and their three children —

, 12, , 10, and , 16 — were forced out of their

rented home in Bradley Beach earlier this year because of a massive

mold problem.

After months of asking for help from local and state officials, the

family was moved into an Eatontown motel. Now, in between looking

for a new home, caring for himself and his family and hoping to

return to work, McBride said, he's turning to state legislators to

make sure what happened to him doesn't happen to others.

McBride wants a state law to compel property owners to fix mold

problems in their buildings as soon as they are discovered.

State Sen. Kean, R-Monmouth, said he plans to sign on as a

primary co-sponsor to legislation introduced by Sen. Bucco,

R-, which, Kean said, would address problems such as those

McBride said he encountered.

McBride's also turned to two lawyers, Jack Polloway and

, both of Red Bank, to get some justice for himself.

The mold has affected the health of everyone in his family and,

McBride said, led to the death of the family cat, Cuddles.

" My family is very sick, " McBride said. " I don't know what is going

to happen with all of this. " This is a disaster. "

The McBride family's problems began sometime after they moved into

the home on Fourth Avenue in Bradley Beach home five years ago,

McBride said.

McBride had gone on disability from the credit control manager's job

he held in New York City shortly before moving into the home, he

said. Recovery from knee surgery took longer than expected, forcing

him to take time off, he said. Within months of moving in, he said,

he noticed that his knee was not healing, and that it was becoming

harder for him to walk, among other things.

Among his other ailments: chest pains, body tremors, headaches and

blurred vision, he said.

" I had blood tests going back to 2004 and 2005, showing my white

blood count high. Nobody knew why, " he said.

" I couldn't walk, talk or anything starting last October, right

after the heat went on, " he said. " Then we bring up the Christmas

tree from the basement, and it smelled terrible. "

One daughter, , began to get fevers, he said.

" Every month, for a week or two, " McBride said.

After many tests could not pinpoint the problem, McBride said, his

primary doctor, Dr. Harold M. Cotter of Wall, suggested that he

might have a mold problem in his home.

The family's pediatrician, Dr. Atienza of Neptune, said that

mold was probably at the root of their childrens' problems.

A note Cotter wrote to McBride recommends that the family find new

housing " 'due to mold toxicity. "

McBride said his family's health problems intensified during the

winter months, when the heat was on.

Once the suggestion was made that mold could be the problem, McBride

jumped into action. He had two contractors give estimates to fix the

problem, one coming in at $24,000.

He wrote several letters to his landlord, Nitti, asking her to

fix the situation, and he also called county and state health

officials, all to no avail, he said.

Nitti did not return calls for comment.

McBride later scratched together the money necessary to have a team

come down from Rutgers University to test the house.

May 7 results from the tests, conducted by the Rutgers Plant

Diagnostics Laboratory in Milltown — part of the New Jersey

Agricultural Experiment Station — showed the presence of

stachybotrys, according to a memo sent by the station.

Stachybotrys, McBride said, is " said to be rare, but one of the most

toxic molds there is. "

The Centers for Disease Control's Web site notes that if

stachybotrys " or other molds are found in a building, prudent

practice recommends that they be removed. "

It got to the point, McBride said, where he and his family had to

sleep while wearing face masks.

On May 23, Bradley Beach's construction official, Don Clare, issued

a notice of unsafe structure to the owner. The notice required the

building to be demolished by June 21 or to be repaired by June 27.

Clare declined to comment for this report, but construction work is

being performed on the house.

Among the building's violations Clare noted in the order were fire

damage in the floor joists and that the brick foundation

appeared " 'distressed. "

" Tenant is complaining of severe mold condition in the basement and

in the living space, " Clare noted in the report. " Tenant has

obtained estimates from a mold remediation company, a waterproofing

company and a doctor, all of which state a mold issue exists " in the

home, he wrote in the report.

Clare required that a " mold clearance report by an engineer or

accredited agency be obtained " before anyone could resume occupancy

in the house.

The family was out of the house for about a week by that time,

McBride said. An Asbury Park-based social service agency, Check-Mate

Inc., paid for the McBrides to stay at an Eatontown motel for 29

days, said Ernie , Check-Mate's community development manager.

That aid has expired, McBride said, and he is now paying for the

room himself.

The family lost most of its belongings because they were infested

with mold spores and were making the family sick, even in the motel,

McBride said.

" Everything we had is lost, " he said.

McBride in July filed suit against Nitti, through Polloway. Polloway

said the case is still in its infancy.

He said Nitti has filed a counterclaim, alleging that any mold, if

it is there, was caused by the McBrides.

McBride said he's feeling better and hopes he can soon return to

work, although not at the job he held when he moved into the Fourth

Avenue house.

He also said he has been talking with staff from the office of Kean

about the proposed bill. The legislation he would like to see

enacted, he said, would require property owners to test suspected

mold immediately after it is found and to remediate any problems.

McBride said anyone who wants to join in his fightcan e-mail him at

moldleg333@....