Exterminator bilks couple into phony mold treatment

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Exterminator bilks couple into phony mold treatment

By

Salisbury Post

http://www.salisburypost.com/area/293852558865338.php

A state agency said it revoked a local exterminator's license after

he sold a China Grove couple a mold treatment they didn't need using

a chemical that isn't approved to control mold.

A spokesman for the agency said consumers should be aware of the

difference between wood-destroying fungus and mold, which can cause

health problems, and the requirements for treatment.

Hurston said he retired before the N.C. Department of

Agriculture and Consumer Services took his pest-control license. But

an official with the agency's Structural Pest Control and Pesticides

Division said Hurston agreed to a two-year revocation, which took

effect Sept. 19.

Hurston said Wednesday he didn't want to discuss the incident that

led to the state action.

" It was just a disagreement, " he said. " It's settled and I have

nothing else to say about it. "

Ned Dillon, Pest Control and Pesticides compliance manager, said the

state received a letter in November from Ben and Joyce Powel of

China Grove asking for an inspection of their home.

Dillon said the request came a few weeks after Hurston sold the

Powels a $980 contract to treat their home with Tim-bor, a product

used to protect exposed wood from termites, carpenter ants, wood-

boring beetles and wood-decay fungi, according to its maker, Nisus

Corp.

Joyce Powel said Target Exterminators in Salisbury contacted the

couple offering a free termite inspection. Inspectors found no

termites, but said they found ants, so the Powels signed up for pest

control treatment.

Powel said Hurston then returned and said he had found mold in their

basement. Her husband uses oxygen to help him breathe, so she

worried about the mold, but told Hurston she didn't want chemicals

in the house.

" He was very careful to tell me that he wouldn't use anything that

would bother my husband's breathing. He said he would use something

to encapsulate the mold, " she said. " We didn't want mold in our

basement. "

Hurston also agreed not to apply the mold treatment while she was

away from the house, since her husband could not inspect the work,

she said, but she returned home one day to find that he had been

there. When she looked at the basement, it appeared he hadn't used

anything, she said.

She called the company to complain, she said, and Hurston offered to

return to the home, but she didn't allow it. Instead, she called

state inspectors and asked them to take a look inside the house.

A state inspector found low moisture readings, between 9 and 15

percent, " so they really didn't have to have anything done, " said

Dillon, the Pest Control and Pesticides compliance manager.

If the moisture readings had been two-to-three times higher,

conditions would have been right for wood-decay fungi, which can be

treated with Tim-bor, Dillon said. But the product is not used for

mold.

" Being a license holder, you know that this material is not labeled

for the control of mold, " he said. " It is a violation to apply any

pesticide inconsistent with label directions. "

Most exterminators don't treat for mold, which doesn't destroy wood,

he said, And if moisture readings are as low as 10-15 percent,

selling a product to control wood-rotting fungus is " taking money

for something that doesn't need to be done. "

Dillon said the state's records indicate that Hurston worked for

Target Exterminators when he sold the Powels the contract for mold

treatment. And he said the state issued a warning to Target

Exterminators because Hurston was the company's employee when the

incident happened.

Target Exterminators owner Mike s said Hurston had already

left the company in November after a short term of employment and

was " moonlighting " when he sold the Powels the contract. But he said

Hurston's pest-control certification was still under Target's

license at that time.

" We were not aware of what was going on, " s said " As soon as

we became aware, we rectified the situation. "

Joyce Powel said s refunded $300 the couple had already paid

on the contract. She believes Hurston targeted them because of her

husband's poor health.

" Mold would be the worst thing in the world for somebody who can't

breathe, and he was very smart about it, " she said. " We're

intelligent people; we asked questions, we did what we thought was

the best thing to do, but we still were taken. "

Dillon, the state official, said the only previous action taken

against Hurston was in 1995, when he worked for a Hickory

exterminating company. In that case, he told a Newton couple they

had a moisture problem and a wood-rotting fungus. He sold them a Tim-

bor treatment. A state inspection found low moisture and no fungus.

Dillon said his agency does not regulate the mold treatment, but has

seen an increase in the use of improper products to treat it. He

attributes that in part to a heightened public awareness about the

health risks of mold.

He said consumers should make sure they know what their homes are

being treated for and, if it's wood-decay fungi, the need for that

treatment. Fungus spores are present everywhere, he said, but they

need heightened moisture content, at least 25-30 percent, to become

active.

State regulations require a company selling treatment for wood-decay

fungi to inform the consumer of the conditions under which the fungi

will grow, he said.

Consumers should make sure the company puts moisture readings on a

foundation diagram in its proposal, he said. If those readings are

high enough, he recommends getting a second and possibly third

opinion.

Consumers who get conflicting opinions, or those who have concerns,

can ask the state for an inspection.

To voice concerns or request a state inspection, call the Structural

Pest Control and Pesticides Division at 919-733-6100.

Contact at 704-797-4248 or sjenkins@....