Inspector Being Sued For Failing to Detect Mold

Quote: Originally posted by John Dirks Jr

In the article, when they say "inside the HVAC closet/cabinet", do they mean the space that houses the HVAC equipment, or the inside of the air handler itself?

Quote: Originally posted by Jerry Lozier



Good question... If it was on outside of cabinet not much excuse to miss it, inside air handler???? As most of us know it is a pain in butt to take out a few screws to view the insides of some a/c components, and gas units can be a real pain.... however (when I do) I routinely see rust, corrosion, dirty A coil and once in a while BOG and write up accordingly... I do check out the furnace section but must say usually don't check out a/c if too inaccessible

Guess my question what is too inaccessible... do most of us pull panels for reasonable accessiblity to inside a/c or not... Is pulling a few screws technically exhaustive... just wondering....whats your opinions ?? guess getting sued might change the perspective...

Quote: Originally posted by Nolan Kienitz

And then there are the EVAP Coil access panels that are well wrapped with foil tape and slathered with mastic seal that do a great job of covering up the 10-12 panel screws.

Quote: Originally posted by hausdok
I don't understand why manufacturers can't make these things with a hinged door that's placed where it won't be blocked by the plumbing and the exhaust vent, etc.

Quote: Originally posted by Tug

The home inspector I hired missed a sewage leak and a 3' foot long 6" wide horizontal crack in the crawl space which resulted in mold. I kept emailing him asking why the crawl spaces smelled so bad he insisted the smell was because the unit hadn't been occupied in over a year (previous owner bought the condo just to flip it). Turns out there was a broken sewage pipe on the other side of my foundation wall that had broke and sewage initially started seeping in through the foundation as time went by the soil eroided and the sewage started coming in from the bottom of the foundation wall. I lived in the condo 6 weeks before I became so sick I was forced to abandon the condo and all my belongings. I am now hypersensative to mold and must live in a house that hasn't had any water leaks mold or mold spores. Can't get an attorney because mold cases are to expensive and I don't have the money to pay up front. Beings I have pictures of 5" of contaminated water in a 6" hole combined with the crack in the foundation I could hold him for gross negligence, no such luck. Had he even mentioned the foundation crack it would have raised some flags and we would have looked into why the foundation was cracked. I worked for a major airline for 25 years which i lost due to my on going health problems caused by mold, the condo, all my possessions, had to file for bankruptcy used up ever penny of my retirement and am one move away from being homeless. My life has been ruined and this so called home inspector keeps inspecting homes never giving a second thought on how he single handedly completely destroyed my life. I'm begging you, next time you go out on an inspection to please pay close attention to detail some inspectors don't realize how one missed item can have such a huge impact on a persons life.

Quote: Originally posted by Tug

Mike, its unfortunate that you a housing inspector doesnt know much about mold, mold spores and mycotoxins but I'll try to give you a better understanding of how mold works. Mold releases mold spores in order to survive, these mold spores are just waiting for the perfect conditions to colonize once they do the whole process starts all over. As time goes by mold overtakes the structure, once a person is exposed long enough regardless of where the mold is they can and will have health issues. Once the hvac is turned on the spores are sucked into through the return and and distributed through out the house making the house as contaminated as in my case the crawl space. Depending on the individual and their susceptibility to mold will determine what course of action that person will have to take beings no one knows whether they immune system will be able to remove the toxins one must assume the worst and hope for the best. I am one of those people whose immune system cant detox as fast as Im ingesting mold spores so the toxin continues to build up in my system causing a whole host of other illnesses due to mold and the mycotoxins that are in the air. Theres a term called Sick Building Syndrome (SBS) which is recognized by the EPA you can read more about it http://www.epa.gov/iaq/pubs/sbs.html. Regardless of what the toxin is if exposed long enough it will over come the individual and create health issues. Mold is one of those toxins that some people (like myself) cant handle and must practice extreme avoidance to allow their system to remove the toxin and regain their health. Beings youre an inspector all Im asking you to do is take the time to read how mold can destroy a person life and take years to regain their health. In the mean time they have lost everything to isolate themselves because if they dont they'll never recover. Below are the pictures of my crawl space, hard to believe someone could actually miss a crack that size and that much water damage not to mention the mold on the a/c coils.

Click to View

56.95?KB


Click to View

58.63?KB