Re: HVAC Mold Inspections

More | Report Post

A simple mold inspection prior to moving in to the contaminated apartment could have avoided
all the problems for this family. But then they would have been out $250 as opposed to
winning $190K in a settlement.

RD

On 3/06/08, Deborah wrote:
> 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