Video: Mold drives Trussville family from home

[Guest guest]

Video: Mold drives Trussville family from home

Crane, Reporting

Lynne , Producer

Jamey ,

Photographer/Editorhttp://media.nbc13.com/wvtm/images/uploads/mold.jpg

Published: April 30, 2009

http://www.nbc13.com/vtm/news/fact_finder/article/mold_drives_family_from_home/7\

0598/

Imagine being displaced from your home for six months…all because of a mold

problem at the neighbor's house next door. You'd probably want some kind of

compensation…but now imagine that neighbor is the federal government. That's

the situation a Trussville family is dealing with right now and they say they've

spent months trying to get it resolved.

anne Johannsen shows us pictures of what looks like blue cheese growing in

her attic and walls. " All of that is mold along that. All that white is mold " ,

says Johannsen. Johannsen and her husband had to become quick studies back on

New Year's Day when they discovered mold had infested their Trussville townhome.

" It was in the ventilation system and it was spreading by the second to every

room in the house " , says Johannsen. And mold isn't just an ugly

annoyance…it's a serious health threat. Fact: According to the EPA, molds can

trigger allergic reactions, asthma attacks and some can even produce potent

toxins and irritants.

The Johannsens say the problem started when a roof leak in the adjacent, vacant

townhome went un-repaired for weeks. Because the two units have a common wall,

cleanup crews said they couldn't clean up the mold until the roof was repaired.

anne says, " If we remediate our side and they don't take care of the wall

on their side and we rebuild, it can come right back over. "

Fact: The Environmental Protection Agency agrees. According to it's website

the key to dealing with mold is moisture control. But the Johannsens say that's

when the real problems started. The adjacent townhome is owned by the federal

government's Department of Housing and Urban Development. HUD contracts with

real estate management company Hooks Van Holm out of Atlanta to take care of it.

Hooks Van Holm has subcontracted the work out to the company, Asset Management

Specialists, in Chelsea.

" We've pretty much exhausted every avenue of trying to get this problem taking

care of with HUD and Hooks Van Holmes and Asset Management. " , anne says.

We contacted Asset Management Specialists. Officials there wouldn't comment on

this case, and instead referred us to Hooks Van Holm officials who have not

returned our repeated calls. Johannsen says no one seemed to want to take

responsibility. She says even with water pouring into the HUD unit, Asset

Management crews wouldn't even acknowledge there was a leak. " Just the

frustration of everyone covering their own bases and no one taking

responsibility " , says anne.

And when dealing with mold, time is of the essence. Fact: the EPA says it's

important to dry water-damaged areas within 48 hours to prevent mold growth.

But when Johannsen called us in mid-February, the family had been out of their

home for 6 weeks, and were getting nowhere with repeated calls to HUD and the

companies involved. She credits our calls to HUD with finally getting the ball

rolling. " Within a day actually (of calling you) they came up with a settlement

offer. "

The Johannsens say HUD then fixed the leaking roof in their unit and paid about

$5000 to clean up the mold that had taken over the walls, ceilings, floors and

vents in the Johannsen's home. HUD officials wouldn't talk with us on camera

but in an e-mail told me, " The various aspects of work required to this unit

i.e. the need for specialized professionals, contract and regulatory

requirements and coordination of activity among the many parties, contributed to

the delay. The process took longer than we would have liked, but it was

necessary to bring about quality results. "

We went back to visit the Johannsens 6 weeks later. The mold had been removed

and the house had been deemed safe to live in, but there was a lot of work left

to do. The house still needed to be pretty much rebuilt. Many of the ceilings,

walls and carpeting had been ripped out because they were full of mold. But the

family says they're fighting it out with HUD again. According to anne,

while government officials have agreed to pay for much of the $15,000 it's

estimated to cost to rebuild, they won't compensate the family for being

homeless for what will likely end up being at least 6 months. That's something

she says would not have been necessary had HUD taken action sooner. " They knew

about mold and they didn't do anything with it they just left it and let it go. "

HUD's response: " HUD has been very responsive to the situation, relocating the

family and addressing the required repairs to the unit. HUD's Atlanta

homeownership center has maintained contact with the Johannsens and has apprised

them of each step of the process. "

Johannsen says that's simply not true. In fact they've been living in a

friend's home since the first of the year and HUD had nothing to do with those

arrangements. anne says, It's been an emotional roller coaster, my 4 1/2

year old daughter was on the floor crying yesterday. They don't understand they

want to come home and it's hard to explain to them that it's not safe here. "

Again we tried several times to contact representatives from Hooks Van Holm and

Asset Management Specialists but were not able to get either company to give us

their side of this story. The Johannsens now have an attorney and have not yet

decided whether to take HUD's settlement offer.

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