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Re: HVAC Mold Inspections
Posted by Deborah on 3/06/08

    Update: Brookfield man nets $190k settlement over toxic mold claim
    By Karen Ali STAFF WRITER
    Article Last Updated: 03/06/2008 06:29:05 AM EST

    BROOKFIELD -- A man who sued his landlord, claiming the home he and his family were
    renting was poisonous, has won $190,000 in a settlement from the landlord's insurance
    company, according to a lawyer involved in the case.

    Gary J. Tricarico, who now lives on Vale Road, won the settlement following a mediation
    session, according to New Milford lawyer Harry Cohen, who originally represented Tricarico
    in the case.

    http://www.newstimes.com/ci_8462586?source=most_viewed

    On 3/02/08, Deborah wrote:
    > RD
    >
    > As you pointed out, you are not an attorney. There is an implied warranty of
    > habitability when a property owner puts out a place to lease. In this case, it was
    > already breached when he concealed and/or failed to disclose a defect, compounded when
    > he allowed the damage to continue by failing to inform and taking steps to have his
    > servant continue the concealment, and doubly compounded when he refused to remediate or
    > to let occupant remediate, moving to evict (retaliatory eviction) based on false
    > information in order to prevent laboratory analysis determining toxins present. The
    > suspensive appeal brought an admission that an employee of a government agency tasked
    > with taking samples for chemical analysis was being kept apprised of property owners'
    > actions and intent of those actions. Testimony provided in court by property owner
    > revealed the true intent and an involuntary admission that the eviction requested, based
    > on no lease, was a complete fabrication.
    >
    > This is a case where the powers that be were determined that no precedent would be set,
    > especially not by some uppity woman. However, your advice is good and surely requesting
    > an inspection alone will prompt some prospective landlords to action and spare some
    > tenants misery.
    >
    > We are speaking apples and oranges here, so let us take Dakota wisdom to heart and
    > dismount this dead horse. I am busy and so are you. While you do answer some questions,
    > you avoid others pertinent to clear discussion. Let us resolve to waste no more ink.
    >
    > "The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's
    > real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and
    > exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink."
    > - George Orwell
    >
    >
    >
    > On 3/01/08, Deborah wrote:
    >> Hummm RD,
    >>
    >> RD,
    >> I tried to post a response but it didn't make it past web filter and I cannot figure
    >> out what is tripping it. I must run now, but I'll try to send it piecemeal later.
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>
    >>>>
    >>>> On 2/29/08, Rem Dude wrote:
    >>>>> Deborah:
    >>>>>
    >>>>> You proved my entire point of this thread. A simple HVAC inspection would have
    >>>>> caught the problem before said occupant moved in. Secondly, if the contamination
    >>>>> occurred after move in, then an annual inspection would have caught the
    >>>>> contamination. EITHER way, said occupant would not have been exposed to mold
    >>>>> contamination for 2 years.
    >>>>>
    >>>>> Let said occupant serve as an example for everyone else - get your HVAC
    >>>>> inspected for fungal contamination every cooling season.
    >>>>>
    >>>>> RD
    >>>>>
    >>>>> On 2/29/08, Deborah wrote:
    >>>>>> Just when I thought there was a person there...sigh..
    >>>>>>
    >>>>>> I know you aren't a lawyer and the lease was standard. Property owner liable
    >>>>> for
    >>>>>> maintenance of immovable appliances.
    >>>>>>
    >>>>>> Occupant had no idea what was making said occupant ill. Occupant was ill
    >>>>>> increasingly ill over a 2 year period. Occupant moved out immediately upon
    >>>>>> discovering what the culprit was and moved to have it tested and identified.
    >>>>>> Property owner tried to stop this unsuccessfully. Handyman sent by landlord to
    >>>>>> "remediate" arrives with a brush and spray bottle and explains several other
    >>>>>> unauthorized entries were made during prior year to "clean" coils and that both
    >>>>>> handyman and property owner were aware of occupant's illness and cluelessness
    >>>>>> about the condition of the HVAC system and the presence of mold within the
    >>>>>> system. A retaliatory eviction was attempted to prevent collection of samples.
    >>>>>> Samples were collected and identified.
    >>>>>>
    >>>>>> The analysis was necessary to determine what was causing symptoms and proper
    >>>>>> approach to remediation before contents could be removed.
    >>>>>>
    >>>>>> You prove over and over that even with a superficial acknowledgment of the
    >>>>>> facts, you are quick to reach a conclusion based on your own beliefs or values
    >>>>>> rather than justice. This isn't academic, it was my life and represents what
    >>>>> is
    >>>>>> happening to people by the thousands daily.
    >>>>>>
    >>>>>> On 2/29/08, Rem Dude wrote:
    >>>>>>> Deborah:
    >>>>>>>
    >>>>>>> 1. I am not a lawyer.
    >>>>>>> 2. I do not have a copy of the lease to even be able to make an assumption.
    >>>>>>>
    >>>>>>> My question is - If the occupant was sick and had proof it was from mold
    >>>>>>> exposure and had proof that the HVAC system was contaminated and had proof
    >>>>>>> that the landlord was not responding, then why oh why was the occupant still
    >>>>>>> in the house???
    >>>>>>>
    >>>>>>> Hummmm...
    >>>>>>>
    >>>>>>> RD
    >>>>>>>
    >>>>>>> On 2/29/08, Deborah wrote:
    >>>>>>>> If the property owner had knowledge of the defect, concealed it, and failed
    >>>>>>>> to inform, and knew occupant was sick with symptoms known to be caused by
    >>>>>>>> the problem, do you feel the lease was breached?
    >>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>> On 2/29/08, Rem Dude wrote:
    >>>>>>>>> Deborah
    >>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>> Not really. I look at enough of them every day.
    >>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>> RD
    >>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>> On 2/29/08, Deborah wrote:
    >>>>>>>>>> hmm, "if you don't like it, move" and "if it made you ill, you are a
    >>>>>>>>>> whining, card-carrying member of the Victim Industry who is
    >>>>>>>>>> genetically inferior, er, susecptible".
    >>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>> Would you like to see the pics and lab report on what was found on the
    >>>>>>>>>> HVAC coils in my place?
    >>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>> On 2/26/08, Rem Dude wrote:
    >>>>>>>>>>> Deborah:
    >>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>> Mold contamination is certainly grounds for breaking a lease if the
    >>>>>>>>>>> landlord is unresponsive to requests to correct the problem.
    >>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>> RD
    >>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>> On 2/26/08, Deborah wrote:
    >>>>>>>>>>>> Don't have it in front of me, but standard rule is that immovables
    >>>>>>>>>>>> are considered domain of property owner.
    >>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>> No matter, when I asked to have it done, inspection guy was
    >>>>>>>>>>>> labeled fraud by landlord and I was told to leave despite offering
    >>>>>>>>>>>> to assist in payment or pay for it all, this after verbal lease
    >>>>>>>>>>>> renewal just a few weeks before.
    >>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>> When the water in hall was discovered just a couple of weeks or so
    >>>>>>>>>>>> later, leading to HVAC closet and plugged condensation tube, I had
    >>>>>>>>>>>> a good look at underneath of coils and intake plenum. Handyman
    >>>>>>>>>>>> said he'd "cleaned" coils 3x during the prior year at landlord's
    >>>>>>>>>>>> request...without my knowledge, of course. Handyman said he'd
    >>>>>>>>>>>> told landlord coils needed to be replaced or removed for thorough
    >>>>>>>>>>>> cleaning...landlord refused to do either. Again, I had no
    >>>>>>>>>>>> knowledge of any of this. Water had been flowing under carpet
    >>>>>>>>>>>> padding for some time. And, no, my sense of smell wasn't
    >>>>>>>>>>>> functioning properly due to prior poisoning.
    >>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>> When it is my responsibility to do more than regularly change
    >>>>>>>>>>>> filter, depending on unit, clean 2 to 4 times per year. In my
    >>>>>>>>>>>> camper, it was easy to do frequently. Window units, depending on
    >>>>>>>>>>>> where they are located, if done regularly and kept clean, not so
    >>>>>>>>>>>> bad. Central HVAC beyond my capabilities without assist.
    >>>>>>>>>>>> On 2/26/08, Rem Dude wrote:
    >>>>>>>>>>>>> Depends. Read your leasing agreement...
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>>> RD
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>>> On 2/26/08, Deborah wrote:
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Let me answer with a question; who is responsible for HVAC
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>> evaluation, maintenance, and repair, landlord or tenant?
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 2/26/08, Rem Dude wrote:
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> For those who complain about IAQ related illnesses or the
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> dangers of mold, how often do you have your HVAC system
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> evaluated?
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> RD
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> On 2/25/08, Rem Dude wrote:
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In reviewing last year’s Residential HVAC system
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> inspections that we conducted, 100&37; of them tested
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> positive for internal duct board/insulation fungal
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> contamination and 100&37; of them tested positive for drip
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> pan fungal contamination.
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> In reviewing last year’s Commercial HVAC system
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> inspections that we conducted approximately 78&37; tested
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> positive for internal fungal contamination.
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> RD


     
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