More Foreclosures = More Closed Up Houses = Lots More Mold: What Banks and ... - New Haven Advocate

Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker if you tell the truth. Realtors By some estimates, half the foreclosed houses in the U. State officials say they have no way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold. Banks and Real Estate agents trying to unload these properties have no interest in publicizing unpleasant information. And the state doesn’t require the seller of a home to disclose serious mold problems. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer. There was no need for sophisticated testing equipment — the musty, decaying stench of mold wafted out across the driveway. Pelli says real estate agents always tell potential buyers worried about mold that what’s in a house is the “good” kind that doesn’t really cause many health problems. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group, which does a lot of testing for mold throughout Connecticut. Representatives of the Connecticut Association of Realtors declined to be interviewed on the subject, as did a number of individual realtors. He says their attitude is often, “We don’t want to know about it, and if we know about it, we don’t want to talk about it. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash. Marconi says the realtors’ association doesn’t think that’s needed. On * average, the noscript tag is called from less than 1% of internet * users. On * average, the noscript tag is called from less than 1% of internet * users.