Local renter 'felt poisoned' living with toxic mold

[Guest guest]

Local renter 'felt poisoned' living with toxic mold

The Desert Sun - Palm Springs,CA,USA

http://www.thedesertsun.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?

AID=/20060513/LIFESTYLES03/605130325/1006

Stefanie Frith

The Desert Sun

May 13, 2006

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PALM SPRINGS - It started with the itching.

Then the watery eyes.

Oh, and the sneezing. The constant sneezing.

She was tired, too. Really tired.

Her lungs ached. There was the funny coughing. And the 91-degree

temperature.

" Oh my God, " she thought. " I've been had. "

Before she knew it, she had lost days, weeks of her life. Countless

hours spent lying in her bed, staring at the San Jacinto Mountains.

But Akins says she finally knows what the culprit was.

Mold.

" I never stayed well longer than four days, " Akins said. " I felt

poisoned. "

Mold is the " new asbestos " in its potential for health and

litigation problems. Experts say everyone has some type of mold in

their homes or businesses, but only a small fraction escalates into

something toxic or allergenic enough to cause health concerns.

" Mold can happen to anyone in anyplace, " said Hinde, senior

industrial hygienist with the Riverside County Department of Public

Health.

Celebrities like former " Tonight Show " co-host Ed McMahon and legal

activist Brockovich have both claimed mold in their homes,

suing insurance companies and builders and bringing national

attention to the issue.

Akins, a Palm Springs resident, is now fighting to find anyone who

will listen to her, to believe mold in her apartment is making her

ill. She lives in an apartment off East Palm Canyon Drive, where she

claims the management has done nothing to help.

Unable to work, her bank account has dwindled since arriving in the

desert in August. And Akins said she's too weak to move out. She now

wants her landlord to pay her lost wages, back rent and reimburse

her for the nights she spent at Motel 6 when she couldn't stand to

be inside the apartment any longer. Experts say the only way she

might be able to get her wages back is to file a lawsuit. There just

aren't any groups out there that oversee mold.

The company that owns the apartment building discredits Akins'

claims. Testing inside her apartment and one other showed there was

mold, but it was dry and not active, said Kurt Wood, president of

Belmont Brokerage and Management.

" If she doesn't like it and is not happy, she has the right to

move, " Wood said.

Akins isn't alone among the residents at the 1850 S. Camino Real

apartment building who claim mold is making them sick.

Lance Caldwell said he was consistently congested, with throat and

nasal issues, issues that disappeared after he moved out last month.

Schultz said he wakes up every morning congested, something

that doesn't happen when he stays anywhere other than the apartment.

And Pat and Bud Speiser wonder what it was that made them so sick

that one day. Could it be the black mold covering the bottom of the

cabinet in their bathroom? And what is it that makes the cupboards

and linen closet smell so musty, so rotten?

Mold in the walls

Akins has proof mold exists. She hired Clyde Carr, a licensed

asbestos and hazardous substances removal expert. His findings, sent

to a lab in Santa Ana, confirm there is mold in the walls of her

apartment.

" It seems this has been an ongoing process, based on the diversity

of the mold species, " said Ducoing, vice president for

environmental services at Ecologics Environmental Services, which

tested the samples in March.

Ducoing said Akins' flu-like symptoms are consistent with the types

of mold he tested from her apartment and that some people are simply

more susceptible to mold. There are two types: toxic and allergenic.

Akins' mold is most likely allergenic, he said.

But Wood said there is nothing he can do if the reports he has from

the company he hired - General Environmental Services - say there

isn't a problem.

GES was hired after Akins complained to the city of Palm Springs

about non-response from numerous letters and phone calls she made to

the apartment manager and Wood.

Palm Springs Code Enforcement Officer inspected the

building in March and cited Belmont for seven things,

including " severe " water stains on ceilings and carpets, substandard

portions of the roof - which Belmont replaced in 2004 - and

an " intense and overwhelming " smell of moisture in Akins' apartment.

" I felt moisture, " said . " It was very humid, musty. "

But besides citing Belmont, the city doesn't get involved in mold

issues, said Don Duckworth, director of building and safety. In

fact, no one does.

The Fair Housing Coalition only refers tenants to get legal help and

how to get rid of mold, the California Department of Consumer

Affairs and California Department of Health refer the public to

informational Web sites and legal advice clinics, and the Riverside

County Department of Health does the same.

" Something like this, where there is a dispute over what the

landlord's responsibilities are, is going to have to be in an

impartial venue, " said Russ Heimerich, Department of Consumer

Affairs spokesman. " It's going to have to be a legal remedy. She

will have to prove it's the mold that is making her sick. "

So happy, at first

But if it isn't mold, what is it? asks Akins. A former model and

actress who appeared in several episodes of the " Mission:

Impossible " TV series, Akins now writes Christian songs through her

business, Divine Word. She moved to the desert from Marina del Rey,

hoping to live as a musician.

She was happy at first. She had found a lovely apartment building,

with beautiful flowers leading up the walkway and views of the

mountains. She pays $1,025 for about 1,300 square feet.

But soon she found herself spending most of her time in bed. After

doctors diagnosed the problem, she started talking to neighbors. And

she started to wonder if mold caused her problems.

" Outside, I'd be fine, " she said, perched on the edge of a white

couch in her living room. " But when I came in, I had to lay down

(after being inside for an hour). "

And after the rains in October, she knew it had to be mold.

" It smelled like a moldy, rotting forest, " she said.

Friends from church wouldn't even come inside. She conducted her

business by the pool. She bought four air purifiers, but still

covered her mouth and nose when inside. She took to staying with

friends in Cathedral City. She stayed at a Motel 6. Anything but

sleeping at the apartment.

Caldwell also bought air purifiers. He found black mold under his

kitchen sink and behind the paint in the master bedroom. He told the

manager. But since nothing was done to remove the mold, he moved out.

" It was evident they weren't going to take this seriously, " Caldwell

said.

Akins hopes to be out of her apartment soon. Her apartment is full

of boxes.

" I don't want them to keep moving people in here, " she

said. " Because they will be sick. I lost my life here for 10 months. "

Finding help

If you feel your property owner, landlord or builder has not been

responsive to concerns you've had about mold exposure, you can

contact your local board of health or housing authority. You can

also contact an attorney, local or state authorities or review your

lease. Learn more about local codes, regulations and your legal

rights. You can also call:

California Rural Legal Assistance

Coachella Regional Office

1460 6th St.

Coachella, CA 92236

(760) 398-7261

Fair Housing Council of Riverside County Inc.

3600 Lime St., Suite 613

Riverside, CA 92501

(951) 682-6581, (800) 655-1812

E-mail: fhcrc@...

Web site: www.fairhousing.net

[Guest guest]

This is a new one for me. This takes the cake, them saying that dry spores

are 'not active'.

If a situation can harm people, they need to be FORCED to deal with it.

" The company that owns the apartment building discredits Akins'

claims. Testing inside her apartment and one other showed there was

mold, but it was dry and not active, said Kurt Wood, president of

Belmont Brokerage and Management. "

[Guest guest]

Even if the mold is inactive it still has all but one of the

properties of live (active) mold. That property is the ability to

grow inside the human body, otherwise know as a fungal infection.

However, inactive can mean a couple of things. If by inactive they

mean dormant, then infection is still possible because the mold isn't

growing right now but it can begin again in the right environment. If

by inactive they mean dead, then it can't begin growing again which

means infection is not possible but all the other effects remain.

They are speaking from ignorance and getting away with it because of

the ignorance of others.

This is where we need to be pro-active by being aware of published

documents and guidelines and educate them by citing those as the

basis for our position. Then insist they supply you with the basis of

their position.

An article in the July 2005 IE Connections (page 13) about the Troy,

Michigan court case included a side bar of opinions by two attorneys.

One was Coulter Mulvihill in Monrovia, Calif. She quoted a

press release from the plaintiff's side, " The published guidelines

are easily available on the Internet but this apartment manager never

bothered to investigate the appropriate protocol, negolecting his

duties to the paying tenant to provide a safe and habitable living

space. "

This is an opinion from one side of the case and not a legal

decision. Even if it was, most of us have experienced those that

ignore the facts and the law. But the concept is important to bear in

mind and act upon

Carl Grimes

Healthy Habitats LLC

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> This is a new one for me. This takes the cake, them saying that dry

> spores

> are 'not active'.

>

>

> If a situation can harm people, they need to be FORCED to deal with

> it.

>

> " The company that owns the apartment building discredits Akins'

> claims. Testing inside her apartment and one other showed there

> was

> mold, but it was dry and not active, said Kurt Wood, president of

> Belmont Brokerage and Management. "

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

The attorney I quoted and the article that contains it is available

on-line at:

http://www.ieconnections.com/archive/july_05/july_05.htm#article3

Carl Grimes

Healthy Habitats LLC