Mold has become a huge legal and financial problem for homeowners and insurers, not to mention a significant health concern. Now it is turning into a big headache at commercial properties - from apartments to hotels to shopping centers.

Mold is even affecting big real-estate transactions. Last summer, a buyer at the last minute abandoned a $30 million deal to purchase a 250-unit apartment complex in the Southwest because it had mold, according to Jones Lang LaSalle Inc., a Chicago real-estate services firm that represented the apartments' owner. 

Real-estate attorneys say mold inspections are increasingly becoming part of the industry's due-diligence process before taking on a transaction.  The fungal growth, found in damp or wet conditions, has been blamed for a number of health problems, including breathing difficulties, headaches, nausea, gastrointestinal ailments, skin rashes, severe allergic reactions and neurological damage.

Mold-related expenses cost companies that underwrite homeowners' insurance $1.3 billion in 2001, a number that is expected to grow this year, says the Insurance Information Institute, a New York-based trade group.  Some insurers have even started excluding mold from their property-damage policies as well, says the Insurance Information Institute.

Some advice about mold for buyers and tenants of commercial real estate, offered at a recent mold symposium in New York: 

• Add mold to due-diligence checklist.

• Watch for clues on property tours such as leaks, wet spots, condensation and stains or musty odors.

• Ask property managers, engineers and occupants about mold.

• Obtain copies of all existing indoor air quality and mold reports.

• Consider performing a mold survey if warning signs exist.

• Review property and casualty insurance, watch for mold and environmental exclusions.

For more information contact:
Alan L. Wozniak, CIAQP
(800) 422-7873 ext. 802
iaq@pureaircontrols.com