Re: HVAC Mold Inspections

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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