Mold, Sick Building and Construction Defect Alert
Our latest alert features reports of general interest and from New York, Florida, California, Pennsylvania, Washington, Tennessee and Maryland.
General Interest:
No governmental body tallies how many new homes prove seriously defective, but Consumer Reports, in a broad investigation of construction defects in 2004, estimated that some 150,000 homeowners a year find “they have more consumer protections for a fickle $20 toaster” than for the biggest investment of their lives. Mother Jones
$400-700,000 luxury town homes, water intrusion, mold, millions in damages in a two year old development. The all too typical story of Portland's Johnson Street Townhomes as told by the Oregonian. Meanwhile, the legislature rejected calls from powerful construction industry associations to adopt measures to curb lawsuits against contractors and created instead a commission to study "the relationship between construction claims and construction industry practices, construction defects, consumer protection and state-mandated requirements for contractors." The Oregonian Industry interests had better luck in Kansas where contractor protection legislation was senacted and signed by the Governor. Kansas City Star
Patients worldwide flock to Maryland doctor Ritchie Shoemaker to discover whether toxic mold makes them sick. Shoemaker believes some people have an innate susceptibility to mold toxins. His approach is to custom build a treatment plan reports the Louisville Channel.com
New York state state health officials urged hospitals to decontaminate their water supplies after a second outbreak of Legionnaires' disease and growing concerns about its spread in New York hospitals. Although Legionella bacteria exist in drinking water virtually everywhere, only hospitals tend to have noticeable outbreaks because healthy people can fight off the infection. Most cases that occur outside hospitals go unnoticed because the symptoms of Legionnaires' resemble those of pneumonia, said a professor of epidemiology and medicine. New York Times (free subscription required)
Florida:
Schools undergoing mold remediation in St. Lucie will be used as storm shelters should another hurricane strike officials say. TC Palm.com
California:
KB Homes agreed to pay the Federal Trade Commission a $2 million fine to settle claims it had again violated a decree it signed in 1979 barring the company from including mandatory arbitration clauses in new home warranties. Sacramento Business Journal
Residents have rejected a city offer to receive up to $31,500 each to move out of a troubled low-income senior housing complex plagued by construction defects. The windows and heat pumps were incorrectly installed, allowing water to enter the buildings and the wood used in construction was infested with termites, the City spokesperson said. San Bernardino County Sun
Salinas students may be eating in portable lunchrooms this fall because moldy walls caused by alleged defective construction have left six of the district's nine multi-purpose rooms either condemned or in need of serious repair. Monterey Herald
Pennsylvania:
The Pemberton Township school district will spend $25,000 to $75,000 to fix air-quality problems to correct mold problems discovered at a middle school. Burlington County Times
Washington:
A study found mold growing inside classrooms throughout Capital High School, the Olympia School District announced Thursday. The remediation will cost over $250,000. The Olympian
Tennessee:
A lawsuit seeking $2.5 million in damages has been filed in Sevier County against parties allegedly at fault for construction defects and other conditions causing a new house to slide down a mountainside. The house has been condemned as unsafe. The Mountain Press
Maryland:
Ceilings collapses in the bedrooms of two homes in Frederick's Overlook development in the last five years were the result of faulty construction by a builder, but the City withheld news of problem from the public due to legal concerns. Gazettte.Net