A toxic mold lawsuit is a legal claim where you’re asking to be paid for damages to your health or property because of mold exposure. These cases fall under personal injury law and they usually take months or even years to work their way through the court system.
To prove that mold made you sick you’re going to need to get together lots of evidence. You’ll need medical records that show your breathing problems or other health issues you have. You’ll also need testing that shows there was actually mold in the building and what type it was. Then you’ll need experts who can connect the dots and explain how being around that mold caused your health problems. The property owners and their insurance companies are almost always going to fight you on this and say the mold didn’t cause your problems, so having all your paperwork in order matters to your case.
When you file a personal injury claim like this, you become what’s called the plaintiff which is the person doing the suing. Your claim is going to say that someone else did something (or didn’t do something they should have) that caused conditions where you lived or worked and those conditions made you sick or cost you money. The hardest part is usually proving that they were careless or negligent in some way. The people you might end up suing, called defendants, are usually landlords, builders, or contractors.
In lots of these mold cases when there are construction problems or maintenance wasn’t done right, you could have a few parties who share the blame. Property management companies might be held liable when they ignore tenants who complain about water damage or mold growth. Construction companies could be responsible if they built something wrong and water gets in because of it. Maintenance contractors could be responsible if they didn’t fix leaks when they should have. And here’s something that makes it even harder, insurance companies turn down mold claims all of the time which means property owners have to defend themselves without help.
To win one of these cases, you need to show two things. First, that there were toxic amounts of mold present and, second, that the person you’re suing knew about the problem but didn’t fix it. Office buildings with poor air circulation sometimes end up with lots of people sick and filing claims. In homes and apartments, when water issues exist and the landlord gets complaints but doesn’t take action, that’s usually when you have a strong case.
What Is Toxic Mold?
Mold tends to grow in places where there’s too much moisture or water. When water sits around for too long, it turns standard rooms in your home or building into places where mold can grow. This usually happens when you have a water leak, such as when a pipe starts leaking, your roof lets water in, you have a flood, or water gets in some other way. And once mold starts growing, it can damage your property.
Mold removal, which some people call mold remediation, costs a lot and takes a long time. But it matters for keeping everyone who lives or works in the building healthy and safe. Mold can be bad for you and make you sick. You might get nausea, rashes or asthma from being around it.
When mold shows up in your property, you’re looking at spending thousands of dollars to fix the problem. The businesses that remove mold usually charge thousands of dollars and how much you end up paying depends on how big the mold-affected area is.
You’ll run into mold in all kinds of places, including at work, at school, or in your home. The most common places where mold likes to grow in buildings are bathrooms, basements, attics, and areas around windows. These places have something in common – they usually stay damp or wet. You’ll also see mold show up in areas that have had water damage before. The good news is that sometimes your homeowners insurance will cover mold removal if it’s part of water damage.
When people talk about “toxic mold,” that’s not the right word to use. Some kinds of mold can make toxins. But the mold itself isn’t what’s toxic. There are two types of mold, stachybotrys chartarum and toxigenic aspergillus, that can make people very sick. These are the ones that lawyers and mold removal businesses usually mean when they say “toxic mold.” If you have a bad reaction to these types of mold, it can actually put your life in danger.
Stachybotrys chartarum is what most people mean when they talk about “black mold.” This type has a dark green or black appearance. As this mold feeds on materials in your building like drywall or carpet, it makes spores and sends them into the air you breathe.
Symptoms associated with an adverse reaction to mold can include: chronic coughing and sneezing, eye irritation, irritation to the mucous membranes of the nose and throat, chronic fatigue, and persistent headaches.
How Do You Know if Mold Is Making You Sick?
The signs and symptoms of mold exposure that we talked about earlier are just some of what you might experience. Mold can affect everyone in different ways. How your body reacts depends on things like how long you’ve been around the mold and what health problems you already have. With mold in air conditioning systems, you might also see other problems that we haven’t covered yet.
The health effects go beyond just making it harder to breathe. These problems can get worse pretty fast. This is especially true for kids and older adults who have a much harder time dealing with mold spores in the air. If you’re around mold for a long time, your immune system struggles to fight it off and gives you health problems that stay with you even after you get rid of the mold. Some people end up becoming so sensitive to mold that even small amounts of it’ll make them sick in the future.
If you or someone else feels any of these symptoms from mold, you need to see a doctor. Don’t put it off and hope it’ll get better on its own. Also make sure that you keep all your paperwork and any diagnoses from your doctor that are related to the mold exposure. You might need these papers later if you end up having to take legal action.
Your medical records matter if you take your landlord or employer to court. When your doctor writes down that your health problems are connected to the mold exposure, it helps prove your case. It also helps to have air quality test results and receipts from any repairs and copies of emails or letters you’ve sent to your landlord or building manager. Insurance businesses usually want to see proof before they’ll pay for anything related to mold damage and the health problems it causes.
Check your heating and cooling systems and fix water leaks once you find them and keep the humidity in your home or office at the right level. You can also have someone come out and test your air quality to catch any problems before anyone in your home starts feeling sick.
Other symptoms, especially in cases of air conditioning mold, may include: sinus issues, breathing difficulties, bronchitis and asthma attacks, Legionnaires Disease ( a flu-like illness caused by bacteria that breeds in moldy areas), and vasomotor rhinitis (a sinus condition with symptoms similar to allergies).
What Are the Federal, State, and Local Toxic Mold Laws?
There aren’t any federal mold laws that set standards for homes and apartments. Federal agencies like the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the Department of Labor (DOL), and Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) do have standards and laws. But these only apply to schools, commercial buildings, and workplaces. If you’re a homeowner, you’re left to figure out a confusing mix of local laws on your own.
When you own a home, federal protection ends at your property line. Homeowners have to follow different laws depending on where they live which makes it hard to know what legal protections you have when you find mold problems in your home.
Some states have passed their own laws about mold standards and requirements. California is one of these states. Most other states though still just use general housing codes instead of having laws about mold.
In California, the Toxic Mold Protection Act of 2001 set up mold cleanup standards that contractors, property owners and landlords have to follow. This law also means that landlords have to tell their existing tenants and future renters about any mold problems they know about or suspect could be there. These disclosure requirements mean renters get a heads-up before they sign a lease. In California, tenants find out about possible health dangers and landlords can get into legal hot water if they try to hide mold problems they know about.
In some court cases that have dealt with mold, judges have decided that mold can be considered a legal nuisance. In states where you can use this, a tenant could sue their landlord through nuisance laws. These nuisance claims give tenants another way to take legal action when the usual tenant protections don’t cover their situation. Tenants can try to get money for health problems and damaged belongings. But they’ll need to prove that the mold interfered with their ability to live in the rental.
Who Can Bring a Toxic Mold Lawsuit?
In most cases, when someone gets hurt from being exposed to toxic mold, they have the legal right to take action. The law recognizes a few different groups of people who can do this.
Tenants usually have the most problems with toxic mold because they’re the ones living in older buildings that were built with materials that get moldy pretty fast. While landlords are in charge of keeping the building in decent shape, it’s the tenants who have to face the health effects every single day. When building maintenance isn’t done right, that can make the problem even worse.
Homeowners can also run into toxic mold problems because of poor construction or materials that get moldy easily. It can happen even in brand new homes. Just because a home is newly built doesn’t mean you won’t have mold problems. That’s also the case when builders try to save money by skipping the right moisture barriers. If this happens, homeowners may be able to sue the inspectors, the people who built the home, real estate agents, or anyone else who either caused the mold problem or should have told them about it.
Employees who get exposed to toxic mold at work may be able to get worker’s compensation if that exposure causes health problems or makes them unable to work. When mold at work causes real health problems like breathing problems, workers have a real shot for compensation.
What Evidence Is Necessary for a Toxic Mold Claim?
Medical records are going to be the biggest part of any claim about your health. When doctors run the right tests, they can show that the mold caused your symptoms. You’ll want to start keeping records once you find any mold, because if you wait too long to report it, it’s going to be much harder to win your case. Any money you’ve lost because of this needs to be backed up with paperwork if you want it to hold up in court.
Having your place tested for mold by a professional matters quite a bit to judges and juries. When you get testing done by someone who’s not involved, it gives you proof that’s hard to argue with. If landlords don’t tell you about mold problems they already know about, that’s usually your best chance to get compensated. Be sure to save every single receipt and medical bill that has anything to do with the mold exposure.
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What Other Parties May Be Liable for Toxic Mold?
Landlords can be held responsible for toxic mold. But you need to know that there are other people who might also be responsible. The list of who’s responsible usually goes way past what most people think.
When you buy a property, disclosure laws say that sellers have to tell you about any mold problems they know about before you close the deal. If the previous owners try to hide mold that’s already there or if they skip the inspections they’re supposed to do, they can still get in hot water even after they’ve sold the place. Just because you signed a sales contract doesn’t mean they’re off the hook if they hid dangerous conditions that end up hurting tenants or anyone else living there.
The businesses that make building materials can also be held responsible if their products grow mold or create the right conditions for mold to grow. With bad drywall, insulation that’s already got mold in it, or moisture barriers that don’t work right, the suppliers that provided these materials can end up in court. These cases usually get tough because construction projects use materials from all kinds of different suppliers.
When buildings get built or renovated, there are lots of ways mold problems can start. If the ventilation isn’t designed right or if moisture isn’t controlled the way it should be, or if the waterproofing job is done poorly, you might see mold spreading through the whole building months down the road. Contractors can be held responsible when they do careless work that sets up the perfect conditions for mold to take over a building.
You might also have a case against your insurance company if they act in bad faith. This happens when they deny mold coverage you should have or when they drag their feet on paying valid claims. Your insurance company is supposed to look into your claims fairly and pay what they owe without unnecessary delays. If they don’t do this, you can go after them for more money than what your policy originally covered because of how poorly they handled the situation.
What Damages Can I Recover for Toxic Mold Injuries?
You can recover damages in toxic mold cases. But the amount you get will depend on the facts of your particular case. Every case is different and has challenges. In most cases, what you can recover depends on how bad the mold growth was, how sick it made you and how much you spent on medical bills and fixing your property.
Most of the time, what you’ll recover is something called compensatory damages. These payments are meant to cover the money you lost because of the mold. How much money you get back comes down to keeping track of every expense the mold caused you. You can get money back for different losses. In some states, if you win your case, the other side has to pay your lawyer’s fees too.
You might also be able to get something called punitive damages. These can be worth big money if you can prove the other party did something very wrong. You might get these damages if your landlord, insurance company, or home builder deliberately lied to you about the mold. Punitive damages are there to stop this behavior again.
Recovering money for toxic mold problems isn’t always easy. Doctors don’t all agree about how mold hurts your health. Your case hinges on finding doctors who believe mold can make you sick, which can be tough since some medical experts don’t see a connection between toxic mold and some health problems. Insurance policies won’t pay for toxic mold problems. Most standard insurance policies have language that excludes mold coverage. That said, a lawyer could find other provisions in your policy that could help you recover some costs.
It can also be hard to prove that the mold caused your problems. A lawyer who knows about mold cases can give you an idea about what evidence you need to build a strong case. They might try to blame you and say you didn’t keep your place clean enough. Keeping records is the best way to protect yourself against these accusations. You’ll need to prove that you were hurt and that the mold was responsible.
Your compensation could be higher if you experienced property damage, harassment, retaliation, or were forced to move out of your home.
Do I Need an Attorney for Help with a Toxic Mold Claim?
Yes, a mold attorney helps you if you have any toxic mold problems. These attorneys are often class action lawyers who’ve handled toxic mold cases before.
Toxic mold claims can be tough and you need someone who knows what they’re doing. These cases can cover different areas of law like breach of contract claims and personal injury claims. Each type of claim has its own requirements and deadlines that you need to follow. When you’re trying to get compensation, your health records become important evidence. Everything gets even harder when breathing problems or other health problems start showing up over time.
Your toxic mold lawyer helps you with different parts of your case. They’ll find out who you should sue (like maybe a contractor) and help you determine what claim you have and tell you what evidence you’re going to need. They’ll also bring in expert witnesses if you need them. These experts can explain how the mold impacted your health, which matters a lot. Making that connection between the mold and your illness takes knowledge that most people just don’t have.
Your attorney can also give you legal advice and talk to the insurance company for you, which can be pretty scary on your own. Insurance adjusters know the tricks to try and pay you as little as they can get away with. Sometimes the person you’re suing might want to settle your case without going to court. When this happens, you need a lawyer with you during negotiations to help you get a fair deal. Settlement deals usually happen pretty fast after you file your case. Your attorney will check if the money they’re giving you actually covers your medical bills and what you’ll need for treatment down the road. If you take the first deal they make, you’re probably not being paid as much as you could.
If someone is suing you for toxic mold, you need to get a lawyer to protect you from being blamed for something that wasn’t your fault. Your lawyer will be able to show evidence that proves the other person’s claims aren’t true. Property owners can end up paying lots of money in these cases. Your toxic mold lawyer can also help you work out a settlement without going to court, which saves you time and money. If you’re suing or being sued, you need a toxic mold lawyer to protect your rights.
At LegalMatch, we have a free service that matches you with lawyers. It only takes about 15 minutes to tell us about your problem. You’ll get messages from attorneys in your state who work on cases like yours and help you get compensated for toxic mold injuries. Our service connects you with experienced attorneys near where you live. Many of the lawyers we work with will meet with you for free for your first consultation. This gives you a chance to find out if you have a strong case without paying anything. Most attorneys understand that you need some answers before you hire them.
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