Family forced to flee moldy house

Monday, Aug. 20, 2001 | 11:10 a.m.

Preventing mold

Exposure to mold can cause eye irritation, stuffiness and wheezing. Older adults and young children are particularly at risk, as are people with compromised immune systems or respiratory illnesses, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta. To reduce the risk of mold:

It was bad enough, Lorence Sweetman thought, when a potentially toxic black mold forced his family to leave their possessions and flee the house they rented in Boulder City.

Then came the eviction.

A Boulder City municipal judge ruled Aug. 14 that Sweetman failed to pay the rent and his landlord, Jerry McHugh, had the right to evict him. Judge Victor Miller gave the Sweetmans 24 hours to remove their belongings. After that, a constable would be authorized to use "all necessary force required" to remove the family's belongings, according to the eviction order signed by the judge.

Sweetman told the judge he couldn't remove his family's belongings because they were contaminated with mold, and it wasn't safe to move the items to a storage facility.

"The judge was ordering me to go and get my stuff out, and the health people were telling us not to go inside because it was dangerous," Sweetman said. "So there I was, stuck in the middle."

Health officials are taking the threat of toxic mold more seriously than ever, thanks to recent studies that have documented the hazards of prolonged exposure, Randall Todd, state epidemiologist, said.

But because no risk standards have been set for mold, the Sweetmans found themselves, as renters, with no legal protection when they faced the threat.

Mold thrives when building materials, such as dry wall, become wet. It invades homes, courthouses, hospitals, apartments and office buildings.

Some people become physically ill from toxic mold exposure while others experience little or no reaction, Linda Stetzenbach, director of the microbiology division at the Harry Reid Center for Environmental Studies at UNLV, said.

Not all molds give off the toxins that cause illness, and only a microbiologist can tell the difference. It also takes experts to get rid of mold, and in many cases personal items such as clothing and furniture must be destroyed. Some homes must be stripped to the beams and rebuilt.

When administrators discovered black mold at the Desert Willow state psychiatric hospital in Las Vegas, they moved quickly to stop the spread. Office workers were relocated, and crews from the state Department of Public Works descended on the West Charleston Boulevard campus to replace tainted ceiling tiles and walls.

But residences are another story.

The state Legislature requires landlords to keep properties in "habitable" condition, but there's no provision regarding mold.

In addition, no standards exist regarding acceptable levels of mold in homes, Todd said. The Occupational Safety and Health Administration is considering regulations to protect workers from the potential hazards of mold exposure, Todd said, but the agency hasn't considered residences.

The Nevada State Health Division gets several calls a month from people who have discovered mold in their homes and want to know what to do about it. The state doesn't have jurisdiction over private properties, and callers are given a list of private companies that test for mold and remove it, John Flamm, a health division spokesman, said.

"When it comes to mold problems, houses are an even more gray area than offices," Todd said.

The Sweetman family learned quickly there is little help for renters facing a mold invasion.

Sweetman says his family moved into the house July 15 and spent less than a week there before they all began feeling ill. Sweetman's 14-year-old daughter, who has juvenile diabetes, was particularly affected and began having throbbing headaches. His wife, Nancy, developed a respiratory infection and deep cough. All are common symptoms of mold exposure, health officials said.

Sweetman said he complained to McHugh about the visible mold growing on several walls inside the house, but the landlord refused to act. Sweetman paid $1,000 to have a microbiologist from the Harry Reid Center test the house. The results showed high levels of several types of mold, including the potentially toxic stachybotrys chartarum, known as black mold.

"We left right then," Sweetman said. "We didn't spend another single day or night there."

Stetzenbach confirmed that significant amounts of mold had been found at the Ramona Lane house. There were patches of the slimy black growth visible in the master bedroom, dining room and in the carpeting, she said.

McHugh declined to be interviewed, other than to say that there is no problem with the house. He referred calls to his State Farm insurance agent, who is handling a claim by McHugh about the mold. State Farm officials confirmed they are investigating possible contamination, but refused to comment further, citing client confidentiality.

Las Vegas attorney Judd Balmer, who frequently handles mold-related cases, went to court on behalf of the Sweetmans but was unable to convince the judge of the potential health risks the family faced.

"This isn't a hearing about whether or not mold is dangerous," Miller told the Sweetmans, according to Sweetman. "It's a hearing about why you are being evicted."

The judge couldn't be reached for comment.

By law McHugh has to keep his tenants' belongings for 24 days in storage. If the family doesn't collect their belongings by then and reimburse their landlord for the storage costs, the items become McHugh's property.

Balmer said he was also disturbed to learn that McHugh was planning to rent the house again and had already been showing the property.

In cases when mold is discovered at apartment complexes, the management is generally willing to help the renter find temporary housing while the problem is fixed, Balmer said.

It's not required, however. Clark County inspectors visit rental properties when they are built, but never reinspect unless there is a catastrophe, such as a fire.

"Usually there's a level of cooperation," Balmer said. "In the Sweetmans' situation we've seen the exact opposite from both the landlord and State Farm. This family is being punished for something that is not, in any way, their fault."