As a tenant that unknowingly rented a property in March of 2010 that is a water damaged property that was just purchased by an investor as a real estate investment. When I moved into my home, I was moving into a nice home that had been completely remolded, it was in the closing process when I signed into the lease. The home looked and appeared to be in wonderful condition. Within a few weeks I learned from neighbors that the pipes had frozen during the foreclosure (in January or February of 2008) because the home had not been winterized. The home sat with the water damage and water still in it from when the pipes burst in the beginning of 2008, until the home was sold to contractor who completed the remodeling in November 2009. I contacted my landlord and realtor to ask if they were aware of water damage to the home, and mentioned that upon learning this information I looked around the house closely to find water stains on the ceilings. I was told that they were unaware of the damages, and the nightmare than began to unfold.
First a company came out to perform an investigation. My landlord than decided to hire a different general contractor to tear out the walls when he received the initial remediation protocol from the investigation, it was at this point that my home became cross contaminated, because the proper techniques had not been employed. My landlord at this point hired a lawn and maintenance company to come to the home and remediate, and they failed two clearance tests. Two additional companies were brought in to investigate, one had an estimate that was close to $20,000, and the other refused to do the work, because of the history of the failed remediations, and the lack of knowledge as to what chemicals had been used to date.
My landlord at that point contracted with the initial company to return to complete the remediation. This company refused to provide clearance protocol, and has failed to provide laboratory testing from my home. I have had 3rd party testing completed by an independent company with has found Stachibytis spores present. Since this company does not allow clients (or tenants) on site, and claims that it is an insurance company requirement, it is almost impossible for any client to prove what was/or was not done in the home during remediation.
Below please find a copy of the email I received from my landlord in regards to answers to remediation questions. These are not professional answers, and this goes to show that companies do anything they can to avoid answering legit questions.
My home was listed on MLS listings as "Property has alot of water damage to main level. Huge potential to be a great home" a easy way to determine that the home had a considerable amount of water. Companies in this state must be held to higher standards. Please take more time to look into the history of companies posting on this site, it is upsetting to see some of them writing and advocating for lack of third party clearance, knowing what they did in my own home.
From: Landlord
Date: Wed, 09 Jun 2010 19:38:39 -0400
To: Tenant
Subject: Remediation Questions- Answered by John
What protocols are you using during any mold testing? May I have a copy of this protocol?
See page B-3
II.Can you explain your process, and how you can complete your remediation in 24hrs?
This is a easy straight forward project. We have the equipment and man power to achieve proper repair in the estimated 24 hour period
III.Do all remediation’s performed by your company take only 24hrs? Does this include the air-scrubbers, previous companies have said that air-scrubbers would need to be run for at least 3 days is this not necessary?
It does include air scrubbers See the scope of work.
IV.How can a proper protocol be provided to a work crew upon arrival when a complete scope of work is not completely known? Your last visit here did not reveal all of the damage that has since been uncovered/created through cross-contamination.
The scope of work already included air scrubbing and full home wipe down, see scope of work.
V.Can you please tell me if the garage ceiling is going to be removed at all? I have most of our belongings in the garage, as I explained we never fully settled in prior to the mold discovery, and I would prefer to move some of those items if some of that ceiling will be removed.
All contaminated drywall will be removed, it depends on the if the garage drywall is contaminated it will be removed
VI.Will furniture and appliances need to be moved for the scope of work to be completed and if so, how and who will move these items?
No leave furniture and appliances for the wipe down
VII.We also discussed the “wipe down” of all items in the home, and the process of handling items that cannot be decontaminated, can you please re-explain this process, and also the process for blankets, clothing, and material items. This is important because people in the home also have many skin sensitivities. Will items such as blankets, toys, clothing, family heirloom blankets, and other additional fabric be sprayed and/or be tested for spores. Will any personal belongings be disposed of?
The wipe down includes hard surface items. It is likely other items are not contaminated however if clothing etc has been contaminated simple laundering will resolve the issue. Any personal item we feel is contaminated and cannot be saved we will bag and label.
VIII.Will any changes to the scope of work be reported upon the completion of work?
sure
IX.What does the cleaning of the HVAC consist of, and what testing is used to determine that it was successful?
Visual inspection and wipe test
X.During our conversation it was discussed that you had received a copy of the most recent mold report, why do you think that the readings have reached these levels after the completion of a remediation? What would be your thoughts on the fiberglass reading found in the latest mold report? No air scrubbers were running and improper containment created this problem
XI.During our conversation you stated that you were not aware of any work required in the crawlspace, if water and damage existed in the crawl space, would need to be addressed prior to a clearance and mold remediation certification on completion?
If crawlspace is contaminated we would haveto create a price for a change order.
XII.What process is used for post remediation clearance? Is this just a visual pass or fail without a spore test? If it consists of laboratory testing, what is the name of the lab and the type of test or tests? Can you alter what tests are performed if you choose, and if so what are the alternative tests you would use for clearance?
See the scope of work. We follow Industry standards per our scope of work and wealso go above and beyond to accomodate our lengthy warranty
XIII.If actual test results are received, do you set “target numbers” that should be met upon the return of the results from the lab?
