Mold in Michigan... What can I do?

[Guest guest]

Hello everyone,

I am a mom of 3 kids one who suffers from serve allergies and my

husband has asthma and allergies. We moved into our home in February

of this year and we got it on a lease to own option. We were given a

sellers disclose, but boy I think they forgot to add the mold. So

here is my problem, once the spring thaw began our basement has

leaked and leaked a lot, like puddles, not too mention the smell that

while there in the cold just faint, became very overwhelming once the

weather began to warm. I do not go into the basement because of the

smell and because there is really no reason to go down there. Well

about a week ago on a rare trip into the basement I noticed all kinds

of mold and fungus (that looks like nothing I have ever seen) was all

over the basement.

I have noticed that beginning in June most of my family has

experienced things such as breathing problems,( a rise in it for

daddy and baby girl that suffer with respiratory problems),

headaches, nausea, fatigue, diarrhea, dizziness, brain fog, and a few

other random things. Well this Sunday the temperature dipped and

our heater kicked on. By Monday morning my daughters throat was

swollen, her sinus so stuffed she could barely breathe. I kept her

home thinking she was coming down with something, but her dad began

to have problems breathing too. By Tuesday morning my husband was in

the ER for an asthma attack and our daughter in the doctors by that

afternoon. They did a culture on my daughter, still waiting to hear

back from that, but our doctor told us to get her and my husband out

of our home.

Well what is our legal recourse, can we move or do we have to stay?

If the owners agree to pay for the mold clean up and water proofing

the basement, we can not stay here until it is all cleaned up who

pays for a temporary place to stay?. And then what guarantee do I

have that the mold will not return. My loved ones health is just not

worth the risk, but we do legally have a 1 year lease with an option

to buy, which we will not buy. I do not know what to do. We live in

Michigan and there are no state laws on mold, so we are truly at the

mercy of the home owner who seemed to just want to dump this house on

anyone they could. Shame on me for not being pickier upon inspection

of the home, lesson learned never trust a disclosure for face value

So any info on what my rights are, with the mold problem am I legally

bound to my lease, do I have to pay if the landlord/owner of the home

does not make the repairs and clean up, oh my gosh the list could go

on… Not too mention is there long term affects from exposure to mold,

what do we need to do to de-tox our systems if there is mold spores.

HELP…

[Guest guest]

Take lots of photos and get a quality testing firm in there to test.

If you can't afford that, hire a notary public to accompany you,

wearing a N-100 mask to collect bulk samples from moldy surfaces and

mail them to a good testing firm. They should fill out the chain of

custody forms, they should sign them, They should collect the samples.

You should accompany them the entire time and photograph every step,

especially the samples, being numbered and placed into the envelope

with the check to cover anaysis, then the envelope being mailed

registered mail to the testing firm. You should also photograph the

form they send.

There are two kinds of samples you should take. Bulk samples are

samples taken with a knife, where you slice off a small chunk of moldy

building materials such as moldy gypsum wallboard and place it in a

small, brand new small ziplock bag. Label the outside with a unique

number, which you also use on the form. Take as many of these samples

as you can afford to test, from a variety of the different moldy

surfaces.

You can also take " tape lifts " which are done with one piece of PLAIN

scotch tape (not " magic transparent tape " , plain, clear scotch tape)

and one clear small ziplock bag for each one. Again, use a unique

number for each one which you also write on the form.

example:

09-17-08_TL01 BasementWallNortheastCornerNearTop 9:33 AM

09-17-08_TL02 BasementWallNorthwestCornerNearTop 9:35 AM

09-17-08_BK01 BasementNextToWaterHeaterTop 9:37 AM

09-17-08_BK01 BasementRightOfGarageDoor 9:39 AM

make sure to include the check for the testing firm and send the

package certified

mail with return receipt to you,

Photograph everything. If you have a digital camera and the camera has

a time date stamp,

turn it on and make sure that its set to the correct time - check

If you don't have a digital camera, now is a good time to buy one.

Document everything.

You should make sure that you hire a notary public who is not best

pals with your landlord, because they might have to testify in court

that they collected the samples.

Your choice of notary (or other respected, disinterested third party)

is very important.

Dont use a family member, for example. Use someone with a soid

reputation who is not involved with the situation.

Also, try to move elsewhere. Stay with family members, rent a hotel

room, anything to get out of there..

When you get your results, make several copies and then give the

original to a friend or put them in a safety deposit box for

safekeeping.

Call your local building department and health department and make a

formal complaint, ask if they can inspect the property.

Wear a N-100 or P-100 mask whenever entering the basement. Get out of

there ASAP.

On Wed, Sep 17, 2008 at 12:21 PM, jeastin71 <jeastin71@...> wrote:

> Hello everyone,

>

> I am a mom of 3 kids one who suffers from serve allergies and my

> husband has asthma and allergies. We moved into our home in February

> of this year and we got it on a lease to own option. We were given a

> sellers disclose, but boy I think they forgot to add the mold. So

> here is my problem, once the spring thaw began our basement has

> leaked and leaked a lot, like puddles, not too mention the smell that

> while there in the cold just faint, became very overwhelming once the

> weather began to warm. I do not go into the basement because of the

> smell and because there is really no reason to go down there. Well

> about a week ago on a rare trip into the basement I noticed all kinds

> of mold and fungus (that looks like nothing I have ever seen) was all

> over the basement.

>

> I have noticed that beginning in June most of my family has

> experienced things such as breathing problems,( a rise in it for

> daddy and baby girl that suffer with respiratory problems),

> headaches, nausea, fatigue, diarrhea, dizziness, brain fog, and a few

> other random things. Well this Sunday the temperature dipped and

> our heater kicked on. By Monday morning my daughters throat was

> swollen, her sinus so stuffed she could barely breathe. I kept her

> home thinking she was coming down with something, but her dad began

> to have problems breathing too. By Tuesday morning my husband was in

> the ER for an asthma attack and our daughter in the doctors by that

> afternoon. They did a culture on my daughter, still waiting to hear

> back from that, but our doctor told us to get her and my husband out

> of our home.

>

> Well what is our legal recourse, can we move or do we have to stay?

> If the owners agree to pay for the mold clean up and water proofing

> the basement, we can not stay here until it is all cleaned up who

> pays for a temporary place to stay?. And then what guarantee do I

> have that the mold will not return. My loved ones health is just not

> worth the risk, but we do legally have a 1 year lease with an option

> to buy, which we will not buy. I do not know what to do. We live in

> Michigan and there are no state laws on mold, so we are truly at the

> mercy of the home owner who seemed to just want to dump this house on

> anyone they could. Shame on me for not being pickier upon inspection

> of the home, lesson learned never trust a disclosure for face value

>

> So any info on what my rights are, with the mold problem am I legally

> bound to my lease, do I have to pay if the landlord/owner of the home

> does not make the repairs and clean up, oh my gosh the list could go

> on… Not too mention is there long term affects from exposure to mold,

> what do we need to do to de-tox our systems if there is mold spores.

> HELP…

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi J,

 Im so sorry this happened to you, yet we add another member to our group

(), which sorry to say KC (group admin) but i wish we all never had

to join.  Your story, sad to say is common to most of those exposed to toxic

mold in their homes and very similar to mine.

 Here they have some valuable resources like lawyers and doctors for mold cases.

www.mold-help.org and you can also do a search on the internet for toxic tort

law or toxic mold attorneys or the like in your State.

With that being stated i can not over emphasise the importance of getting of the

house immediately!!!! Take nothing with you except clothes you will wash

immediately as the spores will cross contaminate your new place and make you

just as ill as your family is now.

All the symptoms you have mentioned are signs of toxic mold exposure and you and

your family must seek medical attention immediately. Tell your Doctors you need

antifungal medication, they will look at you like your crazy but dont take no

for an answer. There is also a drug called cholestyramine which you should

seriously consider taking. You can research more about cholestyramine and Dr

Shoemaker by doing a search online for that name/s. He is the Doctor that

pioneered the effort in treating toxic mold exposure with that drug. Its

impossible for your body to naturally disperse/expell/kill/neutralize toxic mold

on its own. YOUR FAMILY NEEDS MEDICINE ASAP! The longer you go without treatment

the more effective the toxins will be at destroying your health period!

God Bless you J. Please let us know on your progress ok??

Elias

p.s. I was exposed to Toxic Mold in my apartment for 1 and 1/2 years. Your

lucky(as lucky as can be in this case) to be out after 8 months of exposure. I

left EVERYTHING behind.

From: jeastin71 <jeastin71@...>

Subject: [] Mold in Michigan... What can I do?

Date: Wednesday, September 17, 2008, 9:21 AM

Hello everyone,

I am a mom of 3 kids one who suffers from serve allergies and my

husband has asthma and allergies. We moved into our home in February

of this year and we got it on a lease to own option. We were given a

sellers disclose, but boy I think they forgot to add the mold. So

here is my problem, once the spring thaw began our basement has

leaked and leaked a lot, like puddles, not too mention the smell that

while there in the cold just faint, became very overwhelming once the

weather began to warm. I do not go into the basement because of the

smell and because there is really no reason to go down there. Well

about a week ago on a rare trip into the basement I noticed all kinds

of mold and fungus (that looks like nothing I have ever seen) was all

over the basement.

I have noticed that beginning in June most of my family has

experienced things such as breathing problems,( a rise in it for

daddy and baby girl that suffer with respiratory problems),

headaches, nausea, fatigue, diarrhea, dizziness, brain fog, and a few

other random things. Well this Sunday the temperature dipped and

our heater kicked on. By Monday morning my daughters throat was

swollen, her sinus so stuffed she could barely breathe. I kept her

home thinking she was coming down with something, but her dad began

to have problems breathing too. By Tuesday morning my husband was in

the ER for an asthma attack and our daughter in the doctors by that

afternoon. They did a culture on my daughter, still waiting to hear

back from that, but our doctor told us to get her and my husband out

of our home.

Well what is our legal recourse, can we move or do we have to stay?

If the owners agree to pay for the mold clean up and water proofing

the basement, we can not stay here until it is all cleaned up who

pays for a temporary place to stay?. And then what guarantee do I

have that the mold will not return. My loved ones health is just not

worth the risk, but we do legally have a 1 year lease with an option

to buy, which we will not buy. I do not know what to do. We live in

Michigan and there are no state laws on mold, so we are truly at the

mercy of the home owner who seemed to just want to dump this house on

anyone they could. Shame on me for not being pickier upon inspection

of the home, lesson learned never trust a disclosure for face value

So any info on what my rights are, with the mold problem am I legally

bound to my lease, do I have to pay if the landlord/owner of the home

does not make the repairs and clean up, oh my gosh the list could go

on… Not too mention is there long term affects from exposure to mold,

what do we need to do to de-tox our systems if there is mold spores.

HELP…

[Guest guest]

well, if it's that bad, you know they knew. and if it's foundation

problems or a roof leaking down inside the walls to the basement or a

problem with the slope of the ground around the house causeing water

to floe towards instead of away, not guttering or what ever, they

should have disclosed it. you can either walk away or run while you

still can. if you fell your family may suffer long term problems, and

with their illnesses they may, I'd get some testing done,ect. but I

wouldn't stay there any longer. it's not worth the risk. I think you

should talk to a lawyer. it's hard to say, some people recover well

after getting out, others dont.

it is a shame that people try to sell houses in this condition.

supposedly ignorence or pretended ignorence is not a excuse when it

comes to the law. and when somethings obvious,ingnorance just doesn't

hold much water.

[Guest guest]

PS, to save the worry and if you think you may end up in a law suit,

you should also have testing for mycotoxins and bacteria done along

with the swabs for mold types,a good testing company should document

also what has caused the mold problem and take their own pictures. it

is best just to do it all now because something might interfer with you

getting more testing done later on and if you go to court you will need

proof of mycotoxin and/or bacterial exposure along with the types of

mold there.

>

> well, if it's that bad, you know they knew. and if it's foundation

> problems or a roof leaking down inside the walls to the basement or a

> problem with the slope of the ground around the house causeing water

> to floe towards instead of away, not guttering or what ever, they

> should have disclosed it. you can either walk away or run while you

> still can. if you fell your family may suffer long term problems, and

> with their illnesses they may, I'd get some testing done,ect. but I

> wouldn't stay there any longer. it's not worth the risk. I think you

> should talk to a lawyer. it's hard to say, some people recover well

> after getting out, others dont.

> it is a shame that people try to sell houses in this condition.

> supposedly ignorence or pretended ignorence is not a excuse when it

> comes to the law. and when somethings obvious,ingnorance just doesn't

> hold much water.

>

[Guest guest]

First, I want to thank all of you who have given me some great

information. We have been trying to stay out of the house as much as

possible while we look for a new place. I have my daughter, who

seems to be affected far worse than the rest of us, although daddy

comes in a close second, at friends. This is just a nightmare.

So here is what I have done so far. I have got some pictures, and

some I took two weeks prior to this batch. So now I have a few sets

from different dates. We are with any luck going to be moving out on

the first. I have my daughter's doctor giving us a letter from his

office stating that my daughter and husband can not live here because

of their upper respiratory problems and the mold is causing many

health problems for them. I have environmental health coming in.

All though they did say there are no laws in Michigan protecting

people from mold...nice. But they will confirm the water

damage/structural damage and the mold, which they say will help me if

any legal issues should arise.

I am working on getting tape samples and getting those tested. I

will be seeing my doctor next week and letting her know what is going

on, my doctor is not the same as my hubby and daughter.

A few more question, we have decided to get rid of all upholstered

furniture, too many concerns that they will be spore factories, but

how about things that have a hard surface, such as tables? Can these

just be cleaned with a mold killer and taken with us? I plan to take

all our clothes to a laundry mat, I wish I could just dump them but

we simply can not afford to replace a family of 5's wardrobe not too

mention the money we have to put out to move into some place new. I

will however wash them several times and if there is a good detergent

that some one can suggest I will use it.

I will keep you all posted as things progress, I just have been so

busy and out of my house trying to take care of this big moldy mess

that it took me a bit to be able to post.. Thank you all again so

much. I hope you are all doing well!

[Guest guest]

>

Re: moldy clothes - if possible slowly but surely try to replace all

the clothes; I know it costs a lot but you really cannot get mold out

of fabric and it's not worth asthma and permanent tissue scarring.

Re: furniture - Turn the furniture upside down and inside out if you

have to and look for any dust around nuts/screws which has been

collected and wipe off with washcloth into sink; repeat; also use

clorox in your sink drain afterwards. Also if any of the wood was

scratched, mold will stick to raw wood.

If you notice mold in cracks or corners that (when you walk by) or

your husband/daughter that make them wheeze, it's time to get rid of

that piece of furniture.

Be thankful you actually hadn't bought the house. llaci

[Guest guest]

We've had some good luck by repeatedly washing some clothes we took with us when

by left our house by adding 60-80 drops of grapfruit seed extract to the laundry

soap.

Sam

> From: llaci2003 <jjaksic@...>

> Subject: [] Re: Mold in Michigan... What can I do?

>

> Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 6:31 PM

> >

> Re: moldy clothes - if possible slowly but surely try to

> replace all\

[Guest guest]

>

> We've had some good luck by repeatedly washing some clothes we took

with us when by left our house by adding 60-80 drops of grapfruit seed

extract to the laundry soap.

> Sam

That's very interesting. Wish I'd had known about that sooner. Must

be the acid that breaksdown the molecules.

I have used Muriatic Acid on my driveway to get rid of mold spores.

It literally dismantles the spore into something else. Then I just

hosed it down. llaci

[Guest guest]

I will try the grapfruit seed extract for now and slow replace clothes,

starting with my daughter then my husband. Again thank you to those

who have offered such great advice, information, and support. I am

hoping this nightmare is over soon as we are looking at places, but now

I am so afraid that I check everything in the houses we are looking at

that I think the people showing the house may think I am off my

rocker. But I do not want to go through this again. Ok I am off, much

to do thank you all so much!

> > From: llaci2003 <jjaksic@...>

> > Subject: [] Re: Mold in Michigan... What can I do?

> >

> > Date: Wednesday, September 24, 2008, 6:31 PM

> > >

> > Re: moldy clothes - if possible slowly but surely try to

> > replace all\

>