Toxic Mold Lawsuits

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What is Toxic Mold?

Molds are found virtually everywhere- outdoor and indoors. Common indoor molds include Alternaria, Aspergillus, Cladosporium, and Penicillium. Although most are harmless, two types of household molds -- Stachybotrys and Memnoniella -- are toxicigenic and can pose health risks to humans.

Stachybotrys chartarum, or "black mold," is the fungus associated with "toxic mold syndrome." It grows in damp places on materials that contain cellulose such as wood, carpet, cardboard, wallpaper, wet leaves, hay, and straw.

What are the Risks of Being Exposed to Toxic Mold?

While there aren't standard guidelines about how much or what kind of mold is toxic, mold, especially in high concentrations, has been blamed for:

• Headaches
• Skin rashes
• Respiratory problems
• Lung disease
• Memory loss and brain damage (in extreme circumstances
• Infant death

What Should I Do if my House is Contaminated?

It's important to contact your homeowner's insurance company, or notify your landlord's insurance company, as soon as you are aware of a potential mold problem.

The insurance company will want to send out an inspector to determine the type of mold and the source of the problem. Inspections cost at least $1,500, which should be paid by the insurance company. If you aren't happy with the inspection done by the insurance company, you may want to hire your own inspector for a second opinion.

Many insurance policies have what's called a "no action" clause, which requires you to file a lawsuit within a year of discovering the mold. And all states have what's called "statutes of limitation" that require you to file a lawsuit within a short time after discovering the problem. So if you can't come to an agreement with the insurance company as to what damages should be paid, or if the insurance company claims damage caused by mold is excluded under the insurance policy, it's time to contact a lawyer who specializes in personal injury or insurance law.

If you own the property, you have the legal duty to "mitigate your damages" by ridding yourself of the mold as soon as possible. The "remediation" process often involves ripping out walls and floor surfaces to eliminate the mold. It will also be necessary to repair the source of the water damage that made the mold growth possible, such as burst pipes, leaky foundations and so forth.

You may need to temporarily relocate while the remediation repair work is going on, so as not to expose yourself to mold in the air. If you've been told you must leave your apartment because it's unsafe for you to stay, you may have been "constructively evicted" and your landlord should pay for the costs of relocating to another apartment.

What Kind of Information Do I Need?

Whether you end up being able to negotiate successfully with the insurance company, or must file a lawsuit and go to court, will depend in part on how organized and thorough you are in documenting the mold problem and your damages. At a minimum, you should save:

• Photos taken at every step of the process, from first discovering the mold through inspection and repair, including photos of household items contaminated by the mold
• Bills and receipts for inspections, repairs, medical expenses, household items you had to replace, relocation expenses, and any other expenses caused by the mold problem
• Medical reports and records

What Kind of Lawyer Do I Need?

You'll want to look for a personal injury lawyer who has had some experience dealing with toxic mold issues. It's especially important to find a lawyer who knows how to negotiate with insurance companies, but can also take your case to trial if necessary.

What About Filing a Lawsuit?

If you or a family member have been harmed by toxic mold, you may have a negligence legal claim against:

• Your landlord or property managers
• The people who sold you your house, if they knew about the mold and didn't disclose the problem
• The contractors who built your apartment or home
• The suppliers or manufacturers of defective building materials

You may have a legal right to recover the costs of:

• Inspection
• Repair
• Replacing ruined household items
• Finding other housing during repairs
• Medical expenses
• Future medical expenses
• Emotional distress

Juries have made substantial awards in mold cases.

• In Delaware, two women claimed that their landlord failed to fix leaks and mold problems in their apartment and that his negligence resulted in asthma attacks. The jury awarded the women $1.04 million'an award that was upheld by the Delaware Supreme Court.
• A Texas jury awarded a homeowner $32 million after finding that the homeowner's insurance carrier acted in an unfair, deceptive, and fraudulent manner when evaluating the homeowner's property damage claim for mold. The award was reduced to $4 million on appeal.
• In California, a jury awarded a homeowner $18 million after his insurance carrier denied his claims for mold damage. The award was later reduced to $3 million.

In response to the growing number of mold-related lawsuits, some insurance companies have inserted absolute mold exclusions into some of their insurance policies sold to building owners and are denying coverage for toxic mold claims.

Even so, the evidence is unclear. Researchers conducting a medical review of 50 mold cases were able to identify other medical causes to explain the illnesses of persons suffering from "toxic mold syndrome."

Related Resources on lawyers.com

- Drugs and Medical Devices
- Products Liability
- Class Actions
- Selecting a Lawyer
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- Class Action or Products Liability message boards for more help

Web Links

- The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Center for Environmental Health (CDC) provide more information about molds, respiratory health, and mold clean-up and remediation.
- - The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) also offers additional information about mold growth and clean-up in your home.