Sep 8, 2009 10:48 pm US/Central
Woman Sues Condo Association Over Toxic Mold
CHICAGO (CBS) ―
-
-
Dawn Neubauer is suing her condo association for toxic mold in her home.
CBS
If you live in a condo and something goes wrong, you're often at the mercy of the condo association for help. And if the problem is mold, you're on your own when it comes to figuring out who is qualified to evaluate the danger and fix it. CBS 2 Investigator Pam Zekman reports on a real mold mess.
Dawn Neubauer was stunned when she found water dripping from the ceiling, through electrical outlets and light switches in her building.
"What is going on? Who do I call? What do I do?" she said. "I was at a complete loss."
Neubauer called her condo association manager who sent out a repair man.
"He accused my showers of causing the damage," Neubauer said.
As time passed, Neubauer noticed changes in her health.
"Chronic bloody noses and sore throats," she said. "I literally, I could not breathe."
The condo association finally hired a contractor who found mold while doing some repairs. The company hired a mold remediation firm to deal with it. But sources tell us the condo association refused to do all the recommended work.
Neubauer brought in her own expert, Barton Robertson, to double check everything.
"They did Band-Aid work when it needed surgery," Robertson said.
After the work was done, Robertson says his tests showed higher levels of toxic molds.
"What this tells us is that they totally botched the job," Robertson said.
And Robertson says the water and mold problems will continue because of problems with the ventilation system. The foundation also has problems.
"You can actually see there's numerous cracks here," Robertson said. "Anything that's down on the concrete floor is going to continue to get wet, and it's going to continue to breed mold."
Neubauer says her repeated attempts to get the condo association to fix all the problems have failed, making it impossible for her to live there.
Neubauer is now suing the condo association to recover more than $30,000 she spent on repairs.
"A year and a half ago, I was debt-free," Neubauer said. "And now I'm very much in debt."
Attorneys for the Woodridge Park Lane Condominium Association refused to comment, but have denied any wrongdoing in response to the lawsuit.
"We see more and more of it as time goes on," said Larry Schwartz, Safestart Environmental.
Schwartz says fights between condo owners and associations over mold are very common.
"Things get dealt with in an improper way that makes the situation even worse," Schwartz said.
Schwartz says many disputes over mold remediation could be avoided.
"If we had a state licensure on this type of work, that it would definitely help protect the public to get the job done right for a fair price," Schwartz said.
Meanwhile Neubauer continues to pay more than $1,200 a month on a mortgage and assessments for a condo she can't live in.
"I want a home," Neubauer said. "I want what I had before this place fell apart."
Illinois has no mold remediation licensing laws; as many as 12 other states do.
If you need mold work done, experts say one way to check out a contractor is to see if they are certified by any professional organizations.
For a link to those groups,
click here.
Click here to search for industry-accredited mold remediation workers.
Click here to search for industry-accredited air quality consultants.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
Jewish Celebrities
SEND A TIP TO THE 2 INVESTIGATORS
Click to enlarge
Stumble It!
Reporting
