Fw: Palm Beach County woman says her dream house has made her ill

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> By L. Othon

> South Florida Sun-Sentinel

>

> July 31, 2006

>

> WEST LAKE WORTH -- After months of headaches, nausea and occasional

> seizures, Amaral abandoned her custom-built dream home, blaming the

> mold that grew in it for her medical problems.

>

> The tastefully designed home in the Savannah Estates neighborhood on U.S.

> 441 had no catastrophic water damage. No flooding, no hurricane damage.

>

> But about a year after moving in, the family discovered mold growing on

> some air conditioning vents, a smoke detector in Amaral's bedroom, ducts

> and in the attic.

>

> Now the Amarals are battling the builder, Town & Country Homes Florida, a

> K. Hovnanian Co., in an attempt to break free of the home.

>

> " The builder knows there is this mold in my house, he knows there are

> these toxins, he knows that the mold in the house matches the mold in my

> blood, but he won't do a damn thing, " said Amaral, 47. " All I want him to

> do is buy my house. Let me and my family move on so I can get a clean

> house. "

>

> The Amarals first alerted the builder to their mold problem in January,

> meeting personally with officials and sending e-mails requesting help.

>

> Tim , president of the local Town & County division in Boynton Beach,

> said the company is investigating.

>

> " Research is still being conducted by a third-party consultant who is an

> expert in that field, " said. " Just because a claim is made doesn't

> mean it's substantiated or it's a builder responsibility. "

>

> According to the Amarals, Town & Country previously offered to clean the

> house, but declined to pay the roughly $20,000 the Amarals spent on

> lodging, environmental testing and living expenses.

>

> " I don't know how it would be possible to make this house livable for my

> wife, " Steve Amaral said.

>

> Amaral and her family lived in a Hampton Inn for nine weeks until

> she left for the Bahamas for several weeks this summer for some

> doctor-recommended ocean air.

>

> She and her daughters are now staying at her mother's, while Steve Amaral,

> unaffected by the mold, stayed home.

>

> The Amarals moved into the $416,000 home in June 2004.

>

> Less than eight months later, Amaral began to get sick.

>

> She also experienced seizures, long after a prior seizure problem she

> experienced after a 2002 car crash had been stabilized.

>

> Steve Amaral is confident the house was improperly insulated, leading to

> the mold build-up, while Town & Country officials say the culprit is

> likely the air conditioning unit, he said.

>

> " It appears the Amarals have a significant problem in their home, " said

> the Amaral's attorney Cohen.

>

> " Testing shows that, and Ms. Amaral has certainly proven to be ill as a

> result of the exposure. "

>

> One of Amaral's doctors said Amaral's mold allergy testing is so

> high, it suggests she is suffering from what doctors term " non-specific

> building related illness. "

>

> Symptoms can be as minor as a runny nose. Amaral's symptoms are

> much more complex, said Dr. Harold Robbins, an expert in occupational and

> environmental medicine based in Deerfield Beach.

>

> " Whereas most people may not develop problems, she is a more high-risk

> individual, " Robbins said. " The levels of some of the mold that they found

> in the air in the home from what I understand in reviewing the records,

> was pretty high. "

>

> High levels of several types of mold were found in Amaral's blood,

> according to her test records.

>

> Amaral now receives weekly nutritional therapy intravenously to

> help stabilize her immune system and she'll be treated for her mold

> allergy when she is healthy enough, Robbins said.

>

> Her neurologist, Harold Friend, said Amaral's headaches " significantly

> interfered " with her life.

>

> Friend said when he attributed the headaches to the mold, he did so by

> making a " diagnosis of exclusion. "

>

> " We ruled out everything else, " Friend said. " The thing that demonstrates

> it's the primary cause is that when she left the premises, she was much

> better. "

>

> said no other Savannah Estates homeowner has reported mold problems.

>

> It's unlikely that the company will buy back their home because that's not

> normally done, he said.

>

> " I take this very personally and very seriously and we are responding as

> expeditiously as we can, " he said.

>

> L. Othon can be reached at nothon@... or 561-243-6633.

>

> this is a BIG Problem for many Rich or Poor only the poor is put on the

> streets and worse we are people too.

>

> Copyright © 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel

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