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This is a common request we get from tenants. We have worked for tenants, landlords, and Homeowner Associations (HOAs).  In all cases, the following advice is the best course to address suspect or known mold issues.

First, if you suspect a mold issue in a property you do not own, it is best to contact the owner/landlord, as it is their responsibility to evaluate complaints. Since mold is water-related, unaddressed mold issues that are ignored will continue to cause damage to the property. Stopping the water source that drives mold growth is something any property owner would want to address.

If you rent a property with an HOA, contacting the HOA is prudent. Uniform buildings such as developments with an HOA will have buildings of similar age and construction. Since everything ages and has a life expectancy, it is possible that if your unit has a mold issue, the other units have the same issue.   If you have a water leak from the roof, rest assured other roofs in the complex have the same leak. 

Now there are absentee landlords, that may ignore your complaints.   In these cases, you go to step 2.

Your second approach would be contacting the local board of health and/or the municipality as landlords have to keep properties habitable. It is possible these agencies can evaluate your concern and have the landlord address it.

Your final option is to hire a professional to perform a Mold Inspection with testing.   I saved this option for last because you are spending money on professional evaluation. Budget $300 to $500 to $900 to have your mold problem professionally evaluated with testing.   Why such a wide range of costs?   Because mold problems are unique contingent on the mold issue and concern will dictate what is technique used for evaluation and how much testing should be performed.   There are some considerations before taking this step, will confirmation of mold by a professional be enough to get the owner to address your concern?   Do not spend money if you do not think you will get the result you desire. It is always safe to let the owner know you are hiring a professional as that may cause to owner to address your concern.

Lastly, be prepared that you may not have a mold problem.   Curren has completed thousands of mold inspections, and a good portion of mold inspections entail people thinking there is a mold situation affecting their health and this includes renters, owners, and workers in commercial buildings, and there is no mold issue.   If you are having health problems and mold is not a problem, you have other health issues that require professional medical evaluation.

What should you not do if you think you have a mold problem?

One, do not do any testing yourself, you are not qualified and will not understand what the test results mean.  It is a waste of money.

Two, do not declare you have black mold, as it is a fictitious mold, it does not exist, and no mold is named black mold.

Lastly do not claim to be a medical or mold expert, you are someone who may have a mold problem that you want evaluated and if present addressed.  It is our experience the vast majority of landlords want tenant issues addressed, so be calm and understanding.

Mold is a byproduct of water or moisture.  Fixing the source is step one in remediating mold.  

Mold Remediation is a multi-step process that includes the removal of the mold from impacted surfaces (Hepa Vac), the application of a post-cleaning fungicide, and lastly application of a fungistatic coating on organic surfaces.  

The fungistatic coating is typically white or clear and applied to organic wood surfaces to allow the treated surface to resist mold growth.  The coating can also stop the wood from absorbing moisture, which is what allows mold to start to grow.

This is all performed in a manner to try and contain the mold spores, so they are not spread to other rooms in the building.  You must also be diligent in looking for additional sources of water/moisture that fueled the mold growth.   Commonly, there are more than one cause of the mold growth.

Since only 11 states have mold regulations, the work performed in all other states is questionable as you have no specified quality of service.   Meaning what should be performed to remediate mold is not always completed.  If the white coating is not a mold-resistant coating i.e., paint, mold would be expected to grow as paint contains organic material that can foster mold growth. Mold-resistant coating (fungistatic) costs significantly more than paint, and many people will use paint to save money.  

Mold Remediation Failures

If the company performing mold remediation is unlicensed, which most are and they do not follow industry protocols, expect corners to be cut and your mold remediation to be a failure.   Mold remediation failures come from a lack of clear objectives and protocols that the company should utilize to remediate the mold.

The photo below shows areas that were missed when applying a mold-resistant coating which allowed mold to grow.

 While a remediated space does not necessarily have to appear like a freshly painted room, the area should visually indicate that treated surfaces are coated or covered. As the name implies “fungistatic coating” must coat all organic surfaces to be effective. The better coatings come with a 10-year warranty to prevent mold growth.

Expert Mold Advice

888-301-1050

Are you buying a house with mold? Is mold harmful? Should I be concerned about mold?

Mold is ubiquitous in our environment, but not all homes have mold and visible mold growth is a sign that something went wrong.

Mold can have an adverse health effect on people. Mold affects different people differently. Clearly if you are not allergic to peanuts or dairy products, consumption of these food items (within reason) will not cause you harm.  The problem with mold is people are subjected to it unknowingly after they move into a new residence and after days, weeks or months health concerns arise.   

Should you have a mold inspection prior to a home purchase?   Yes, if you want to ensure the home doesn't have mold, years you should have a mold inspection.

Mold can be harmful in a variety of ways.  Inhaling mold spores creates a reaction, which is your body finding that it doesn’t like the mold and your body fights the spore.

Think about how pollen can create a reaction in susceptible people. Now certain molds can produce mycotoxins and microbial volatile organic compounds which can affect humans. These are created by mold growing, you are inhaling these compounds when you smell the musty odor associated with mold.

Understand mold digests organic material, a great example is how mold breaks down your compost pile outside. So mold in a building will consume organic material, such as paper, sheetrock, cellulose, wood, and other items. As these materials are consumed, compounds are made (think stomach acids) by the consumption of the material as well as the building materials breaking down into other compounds. Paint is paint, right? Or is paint a number of compounds that are the ingredients of paint? The paint is present on a sheetrock wall, when this wall has mold growth, mold breaks down the paper and the paint causing off-gassing. A person can be allergic to the compounds that mold creates when consuming your home. Now mold is really resilient and will grow when conditions permit the mold to grow and will go dormant when the conditions are not conducive for mold growth. So, if you add water and warmth to a room, mold can grow. Take away the water and put temperatures below 50 degrees and mold goes dormant, waiting to grow another day. If you intermittently smell a musty odor, it mold gets wet and grows. The smell goes away when the water goes away. This situation means you have a water leak that is intermittent.

Mold inspections can test for hidden mold and molds that are not actively growing. An abundance of invisible airborne mold spores can be a health hazard to humans when inhaled.

Is mold everywhere? Yes pretty much anywhere on earth mold is present, that said we have completed thousands of mold inspections, and not all inspections find mold. So if someone tells you every home has mold, well, it may be accurate, but it depends on what level of mold growth and airborne spores are present.

When Mold is present it points to an issue, could be a water issue, moisture, leak and much more. Want to speak to a mold expert?  

856-858-9509

New Jersey allows sellers of real estate properties to complete a Property Condition Disclosure Statement.  The property disclosure statement relative to mold references he following. 

NJ Seller’s Property Condition Disclosure Statement
(N.J.S.A. 56:8-19.1) A. 2685 

◦Yes    No         
[ ]      [ ]               9)        Are you aware of any water leakage, accumulation or 
                                       dampness within the basement or crawl spaces or any 
                                       other areas within any of the structures on the property? 

◦[ ]      [ ]               9a)      Are you aware of the presence of any mold or similar 
                                         natural substance within the basement or crawl spaces 
                                         or any other areas within any of the structures on the 
                                          property? 

As revised, N.J.S.A. 56:8-19.1 newly requires that if a filled-in property condition disclosure statement indicates the seller’s awareness of water leakage, accumulation or dampness, the presence of mold or other similar natural substance, or repairs or other attempts to control any water or dampness problem on the real property, the involved real estate broker, broker-salesperson, or salesperson is required to provide the buyer with a physical copy of the Department of Health’s "Mold Guidelines for New Jersey Residents" pamphlet. 

Mold Disclosure & Consumer Fraud

New Jersey consumer fraud law bans the "concealment, suppression, or omission of any material fact with intent that others rely upon such concealment, suppression or omission, in connection with the sale or advertisement of any … real estate." N.J.S.A. 56:8-2. 

The administrative rules of the Real Estate Commission provide that real estate licensees must disclose all information “material to the physical condition of any property which they know or which a reasonable effort to ascertain such information would have revealed to their client or principal and when appropriate to any other party to a transaction.” N.J.A.C. 11:5-6.4.  The concern raised by this requirement is that a real estate broker or agent might be called on to answer to a defrauded buyer for passing along bad information originating with the seller. 

1. Mold disclosure in a typical real estate transaction
2. Seller answers no regarding water or mold
3. Home goes under contract
4. Buyer does due diligence including a mold inspection.
5. Mold is found and a repair request presented to the seller
6. Maybe because of mold, maybe another issue but the transaction falls apart and the property is an active listing.

The seller now has to disclose the mold even if it was not disclosed previously. If it is disclosed, the Realtor would need to provide the buyer with the mold guidelines.

Mold growth is due to a water issue, mold will grow back if the water issue is not fixed. After disclosure of mold growth by seller, ask how the water issue was fixed and for some paperwork. Regarding the mold remediation, ask the seller for paperwork from the mold remediation company. The company should provide information on the remediation was performed and warranties on the products used during remediation.

Disclosure of mold by the Seller should not make your run from the property, if you have the proper paperwork backing up that it was remediated and the water issue was fixed, it shouldn't be an issue in the future.

Expert mold advice, that is what you would want if you had a mold question - right?  Everybody wants the best available advice, but is it possible to get expert mold advice?   Finding a true mold professional is like finding a needle in a haystack.    It’s hard and rarely accomplished.  You can blame lack of government regulations as a source of the scarcity of mold professionals.  You see New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware have zero mold regulations, so every "Chuck in a Truck" can say they know mold.

On a fairly consistent basis (almost daily to be fair) we get calls from people all over the country  that have questions about mold, or need us to interpret mold testing that a professional they hired cannot explain.   Fact, if you hire a professional, they should be able to provide professional advice in writing and be able to understand test results.   If your expert has a Gmail account, works out of their home or says they are licensed, I would say these are three common threads we find from people who have complaints with a mold company. 

No mold regulations, means no licensing, no required competency or required training and testing, so what is stopping someone from changing careers,  say from selling cell phones to doing mold consulting.   True story I met someone with just that background at an event down the shore, suffice to say what they knew about mold was very little.  Or should I say, what they knew about mold was mostly inaccurate. Did you know the salt air and the pressure treated wood that are prevalent in coastal areas inhibits mold growth?  Well, either did he and he told me not to tell people that its bad for business, he said fear of mold sells.   Sorry, I can't make this stuff up.   

As an environmental consultant that consults on mold, you need to inform clients and provide recommendations on risk and courses of action.   You do not sell fear.   Mold is harmful to human health, that is established, I have had people not be able to inhabit a home, or office where mold growth was present.  I also have people who live in an environment where mold is present and levels in the air are in concentrations where I know health issues were triggered in other people, although the current occupants had no apparent ill health effects from the mold.   This is actually not uncommon as we all have our sensitivities to gluten, lactose and mold, so what might be harmful to one person may not be to another.  That is not to say mold is a selling feature of a property, it certainly is not but mold has to be looked at objectively.   

How to pick a mold company?

1. Look for a company that at least 10 years of experience, 20 is better.
2. Google their address, make sure they work out of an office, not a home.
3. Check the ago of their web site address:  https://www.iplocation.net/domain-age     The longer a domain has been in operation, means the longer the company has been operating.   
4. Ensure everything provided to you is in writing, meaning scope of work, what they will do, how they will test and what the test results will mean.  Look we all know an A grade is better than a C, and an F is the worst, well translate that into mold test results. 

At Curren Environmental we have built a base of knowledge on mold consulting and mold remediation over a 20 year period.   We meet all criteria listed above.