Re: HVAC Mold Inspections

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What would this $250 mold inspection specifically entail?

On 3/06/08, Rem Dude wrote:
> 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