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An amazing story about home mold and terrific Internet links that the newspaper published, beneath it.
GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Imagine finding a "secret room" in your house.
http://www.wyff4.com/news/14488356/detail.html
Jason and Kerri Brown of Greenville found a secret room in their home behind a bookcase, and what was inside was a nightmare beyond their wildest dreams.
"This can't be happening. This can't be true. It terrified me," Kerri Brown told News 4's Tim Waller.
The secret room in the old mill home on Whitten Street in Greenville's Dunean section contained a handwritten letter from the previous owner titled, "You Found It!"
"Hello. If you're reading this, then you found the secret room. I owned this house for a short while and it was discovered to have a serious mold problem. One that actually made my children very sick to the point that we had to move out," Kerri Brown read from the letter.
According to the note, there was so much mold, it made the last family who lived there sick, and they were forced to move out.
The Browns later learned the home contained the worst types of mold including Stachybotrys, the so-called Toxic Black Mold.
The Browns, who have a young daughter, were stunned.
"It terrified me because my first thought was Megan," Kerri Brown said. "And you know, I had heard reports of what it does for children, and I was terrified."
But at this point, it was only a note, and Jason Brown was skeptical.
"Who would leave a note? Why did he do it? What's he up to? A little bit suspicious I would think. Even cynical almost," Jason Brown said.
So the Browns hired an environmental engineer to see if there was any truth to the note in the secret room.
Indeed, Steve Hendrix of Hendrix Consulting Engineers in Greenville, found elevated-levels of several types of mold, including Aspergillus, Basidiospores, Chaetomiu, Curvularia, Stachybotrys and Torula.
"(On a) scale of one to 10, with 10 being the worst, I would give this one probably a seven. It's definitely got problems we want to see remediated," Hendrix said.
The Browns filed a lawsuit in an attempt to get their money back on the mold-infested house on Whitten Street. The suit names Fannie Mae, Century 21 Flynn & Youngblood and Realtor Sue Bakx, who the Browns claim knew about the mold. Bakx and Century 21 Flynn & Youngblood deny any knowledge of the mold.
Sue Bakx, now a sales associate for Century 21 Bob Capes Realtors, declined to be interviewed for this story. But her attorney, Clark Price, spoke to News 4 on the telephone, saying the home at No. 6 Whitten Street was sold "as is," adding it was the Brown's responsibility to have the home tested for mold.
Like most homebuyers, Jason and Kerri Brown got a home inspection before they bought the house. But the Browns acknowledge that the inspection did not include a mold test. Most home inspections do not.
"That is true. I signed it. I initialed it," Kerri Brown said.
And what about the man who left them the note in the secret room behind the bookshelf? Was he to blame for any of this? After all, who leaves a note?
Meet the author of the note, George Leventis.
"I didn't mean it to scare the Browns, which I think it did when they first read it," Leventis said. "If I didn't write it, it would easily happen again."
Leventis and his family were the first to discover the horrible secret of Number 6 Whitten Street. There is no indication the previous owner was aware of any mold.
"I've never seen my kids that sick. And it was scary," Tricia Leventis said in tears.
According to Tricia, she and their two young daughters became desperately ill, and said doctors told them to leave the home immediately.
"It was adamant. Absolutely, get out," Leventis said. "It was to the point where my youngest was so sick, she was unable to hold any nutrition, nothing was working, she couldn't breathe."
The Leventises did the only thing they believed they could do, with no money in savings to have the mold removed. They stopped paying their mortgage and let the home go into foreclosure.
But George Leventis knew the home someday could be re-sold, and he wanted to be sure the future owners knew about the mold. Leventis said what better way to warn them than to leave a note hidden from plain view.
"I put it in the room because I didn't want anyone to find it if it was left out in the house. I figured if someone else who had another interest or a stake in the house found it, they would just throw it away or they wouldn't tell anyone," Leventis said.
The Browns say that is exactly what happened, and say if not for the note, their child may have become sick as well.
"I'm very thankful he left the note. In my opinion, there's a possibility he could have saved Megan's life," Kerri Brown said.
In the meantime, the Browns said there is no chance of saving the home on Whitten Street with the "secret room."
"The bottom line is it costs almost as much to fix it as the house is valued," Jason Brown said. "We're having to pay a mortgage on a house we can't even live in."
"We want them to make it right, and to take responsibility for what they did," said wife Kerri.
Update to the story:
Fannie Mae, the Federal National Mortgage Association, finally agreed to buy back the Brown's home for the original selling price of $75,000. As a result, Fannie Mae will be dropped from the Brown's lawsuit.
But their litigation continues against Century 21 Flynn & Youngblood and Realtor Sue Bakx. Again, neither party would comment for this story.
MOLD AND YOUR HOME
TARGET 4 INVESTIGATION:
VIDEO: You Found It! 2 Families, 1 Moldy House
http://www.wyff4.com/news/14492766/detail.html#
VIDEO: Do You Need Mold Inspection, Remediation?
http://www.wyff4.com/news/14492766/detail.html#
STORY: Hidden Room, Hidden Danger
http://www.wyff4.com/news/14488356/detail.html
STORY: Mold Inspection Needed For Your Home?
http://www.wyff4.com/news/14492766/detail.html
READ: You Found It Letter
http://www.wyff4.com/download/2007/1101/14485162.pdf
STORY: Old, But Dangerous Problem Lurks In Homes
http://www.wyff4.com/news/14472941/detail.html
RESOURCES:
10 Things To Know About Mold
http://www.wyff4.com/news/14473751/detail.html
Biblical Instructions For Dealing With Mold
http://www.wyff4.com/news/14473587/detail.html
Tim Waller's Looking Out 4 You Page
http://www.wyff4.com/lookingout4you
LINKS:
Hendrix Engineers Web Site
EPA's Mold Information
http://www.epa.gov/mold/
EPA Mold Guide For Homeowners
http://www.epa.gov/mold/pdfs/moldguide.pdf
Spanish Language EPA Mold Guide
http://www.epa.gov/mold/pdfs/moldguide_sp.pdf
Centers For Disease Control Mold Health Information
http://www.cdc.gov/health/mold.html
OSHA Guide To Workers' Health Around Mold
http://www.osha.gov/SLTC/molds/index.html
American Industrial Hygiene Association Mold Facts
http://www.aiha.org/Content/AccessInfo/consumer/factsaboutmold.htm
South Carolina DHEC Indoor Air Information
http://www.scdhec.net/environment/baq/indoorair.aspx
Facts On Fungus Types
http://www.emsl.com/index.cfm?nav=Pages&ID=149
American Academy Of Pediatrics Mold Information
http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/cgi/content/full/pediatrics;118/6/2582 |
