mold-symptom.com

FOR 32 days, William Wessling, a 44-year-old chef in Pineville, N.C., was forced to stay out of his condominium because of a sore throat, pains in his fingers and neck and other ailments that his doctors attributed to mold behind his baseboards and kitchen cabinets.
 
After $3,300 to clean out the mold, Mr. Wessling is spending nearly $2,000 on doors, gutters and grading to make sure it doesn't comes back. "It was nasty," Mr. Wessling said. "It can sneak up on you."

Toxic mold began making headlines nearly a decade ago when fungi like Stachybotrys atra and penicillium were discovered spreading their wispy Addam's Family tendrils up library partitions and down school hallways. The mold was said to cause flu- or asthmalike symptoms, skin rashes, heart palpitations, headaches, respiratory problems and chronic fatigue. Then the fear of mold spread to the home.

While mold claims increase, and new products are introduced to combat mold, some doctors are questioning whether molds cause many of the ills attributed to them. Insurance companies are excluding mold coverage in many states, and some builders are skeptical about the efficacy of new mold retardants.

Kirk Hansen, director of claims for the Alliance of American Insurers, a trade group in Downers Grove, Ill., said there are 10,000 active lawsuits involving mold in homes. Bianca Jagger has sued her Park Avenue landlord for $20 million, alleging that the company failed to fix a persistent leak that caused mold to spread across a wall in her rental apartment. Across the avenue, at 515 Park, condominium owners are suing a developer over construction defects they say caused a mold outbreak in their multimillion-dollar apartments.

Last month, a jury in Salem, Mass., awarded Katrine Stevens, a former condo owner in nearby Gloucester, $549,326 in damages and interest after she was exposed to mold that her doctors said made it difficult for her to breathe and forced her to leave her home after just a month and a half.

Despite some doubt about what ills can in fact be attributed to mold, insurers paid out $3 billion on mold-related claims last year, more than double the $1.4 billion in 2001, according to the Insurance Information Institute, a New York-based trade association.

Now, Robert Hartwig, chief economist at the institute, said many insurers will no longer cover claims related to mold. In fact, he said, 43 states (not including New York) have already made it legal for homeowners policies to exclude mold coverage. Mr. Wessling paid for his repairs out of his own pocket, he said, because his insurance didn't cover mold damage.

"It's a nightmare because we've lived with mold for thousands, if not millions of years," said Stuart Saft, a real estate lawyer and chairman of the Council of New York Cooperatives and Condominiums. "And now every time anybody sees any mold whatsoever, they immediately feel that their life is in danger and that it's building-eating mold."

The lawsuits, the occasional legal victory and the headlines have generated an anxiety about mold that has created its own industry for prevention and care.

Some measures to prevent mold are obvious and cost nothing; builders can make sure that wallboard and other materials stay dry during construction. Some builders are paying extra to install wall panels or paints meant to be mold-retardant. Others are handing out brochures and videos to home buyers urging them to use bathroom fans and kitchen exhaust hoods regularly. In humid climates, residents are advised to close their doors and windows and use the air-conditioners, which act as dehumidifiers.

Concern about liability means apartment owners and managers respond more quickly to complaints about leaks. And people building homes are not relying on others to protect them: they are installing leak-detection systems, or demanding customized houses built without wallboard or drywall, where mold seems to thrive.

None of this has escaped the notice of home builders and property owners, who foresee additional liability as insurers shirk the burden.