Actually this message is directed to anyone involved in any part of the real estate transaction in Washington State. All agents, appraisers, loan officers, and inspectors should be concerned about several bills currently working their way through the House and Senate in the State of Washington that in one The first one I will discuss is Senate Bill 5644 that would change Home Inspector Licensing to require home inspectors to include “looking for mold.” Since home inspectors are not generally qualified to identify mold, and are not likely to get trained to identify mold, this bill could literally bring every real estate transaction in the state to a halt or at least slow it down while a mold expert is brought in to test the house for mold. Mold is the result of conducive conditions----in other words there are: roof leaks, plumbing leaks, foundation leaks, ventilation problems, drainage problems, and other building science issues that must be addressed to get rid of this one of the many results of these problems. Home inspectors, while not specifically required to identify mold are already mandated by law to discover and report on conducive conditions, so adding the word “mold” into the law is unnecessary. As long as there is considerable controversy over the effects of home-environmental mold on occupants of the home, blanket legislation regarding mold is not necessary to better protect the health & safety of Washington residents. No one would argue that particulate in the air, whether mold or dust or other contaminates, can affect anyone’s breathing, but these are “building science” issues not mold issues. Knowledgeable home inspectors are trained (or at least should be trained) to identify conditions that contribute to poor indoor quality including conditions conducive to the growth of mold. Any inspector that found conditions that they didn’t understand related to these issues would already be calling for further evaluation by the appropriate building science expert----calling for a mold expert to evaluate every real estate transaction would seem draconian to me. While calling for the “mold expert” would not be “required” by the current bill, can you imagine any inspector “signing off” on a house as being mold free? I think not. To paraphrase Chicken Man, “Its everywhere, its everywhere.”
Other Important Bills: Senate Bill 6434 Charles Buell
way or another relate to home inspectors that will affect the entire real estate transaction. This will be the first in a series of posts designed to bring to your attention the major concerns around these bills. While some of these bills may never even make it out of committee, all deserve a quick email to your Senator or your House representative to voice your concern.
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Rediculous. How can or why would a home inspector write that a house is "mold free"???
Can't be done because all homes have mold.
What kind of liability does this give to the inspector??
All this will do is sell a lot of "do it yourself mold kits".
Clearly the politicians that wrote this bill have no understanding of the housing industry, mold, properties with mold, mold testing, home inspecotors, or much of anything.
Mold is in every home. This is insane! I am so glad I moved!
I was in insurance claims before I was a Realtor. Mold is a big money maker for the right people. It can be a real issue, but it is used as a scare tactic to make money for attorneys and guys who like to dress up in moon suits. This bill sounds like it is designed to make money for someone.
Backed by the Association of Mold Inspectors, perhaps?
Charles,
This is the reason why Katerina's recent post on political posts is so necessary. You are doing your state a huge favor by posting this information. I hope that the agents in your state decide to reblog this.
Time to follow the money on this one . . . Thank you Charles for the heads-up. I'll be discussing this in a meeting later today and looking for more details.
Lenn, thanks---could not agree more
Aaron---thanks----were you from WA?
Gene, for sure---making money and people's fears often go together
Jamie, I suspect they would LOVE to see stuff like this legislated
Thanks William
Frank, it will be an interesting one to follow. Logic would be against it---but unfortunately logic often looses out to hysteria.
Charlie,
When I get home I have to check this one out. Last year someone tried the same thing as you know. This is, in my view, an example of lawmakers trying lo legislate with way too little information to make anything that even approaches an intelligent decision. They just do not get it.
WOW, that's big Charles and you are so right when you point out that in government logic often looses.
Steve, there is a second part of this bill that is also problematic----working on a post about that right now.
Tammy, like Steve says---government often is not in a position to know who to ask for the best information and often greases the squeakiest wheel in the crowd.
It's also insane that this would be a statewide ruling, when mold is not an issue on the "East" side of the state! ; )
This needs to be called to everyone's attention. Mold can be found in every house. I agree that someone should follow the money on this one. Who stands to gain from the passage of this legislation?
Jodie, maybe we should transport some over there and see if it can get a foot hold----think of the business opportunity;)
Sharon, in this case I think there may be a money trail but I also think it is the personal crusade of a couple of people that claim to be adversely affected by mold their homes.
Implementing this proposed bill will definitely slow down the home buying process. I think it's nuts to have home inspectors "looking for mold".
Naturally if you saw the presence of mold or a situation that seemed conducive to it, you would put that in your report.
At that time the buyer would have an option to have a mold expert delve further into it.
But to have you guys become the "experts" and sign off, as you said in your post, would be ludicrous.
Truly amazing. Who comes up with these bills? I own a mold inspection company as well as a home inspection company and none of our home inspectors do mold inspections... it takes tons of training and expertise to conduct a mold inspection and of course further training and expertise to provide sampling and lab services... and no mold company I know of would ever call a home "mold free"!
Craig, agreed
John, thanks---and who is going to establish what acceptable amount of mold in the indoor environment is acceptable?:) Such an unbelievable can of worms.
It rains here....A LOT!!! Rain = water = moisture = mold. Mold loves to hide in dark, hidden spaces that many times are not typically accessed during a normal home inspection (unless you want to rip out some drywall?) I wonder if maybe one of our legislators has a relative in the Mold Abatement business?
Hello Charles - Great job bringing this to people's attention. I hope it all works out for y'all.
Rich, now that couldn't be possible could it?;)
Andy, it would be embarrassing for a state with one of the best Home Inspector Licensing laws to go off on this tangent
Great heads up but that seems like a pretty bad idea.
Thanks for the heads up about this Charles! Do you know if Wash. Assoc of Realtors is tracking this bill?
Hmmm . . . wonder if this will trickle down to Oregon? Good post!
Thank you for this informative post. I am going to share this with my broker and home inspectors.
BethAnn In Spokane
James---seems like it to me
Nancy, no way of knowing, but they probably should be
Carla, I would hate to think that WA was leading the way on this for the rest of the country---hopefully the legislature will be smart enough to nip this one in the bud:)
BethAnn, you are welcome.
Hi again Charles - actually I did check in with Realtors Assoc about this and they definitely are tracking it and agree that it would not be a helpful bill at all!
Nancy, glad to hear that----at least some of us have our "thinking caps" on:)
Ahhh, government at work. It's a wonderful thing!
Personally I really like gridlock...
Have the bureaucrats been informed that there are other forms of "microbial growth" that isn't necessarily mold? They like one-size-fits-all words.
By the way, that all looks delicious. Did you scrape off some to take home for the evening salad?
P.s. Sorry I missed your call the other day. I have been so busy, early to late. And people have a tendency to call when I am not with the phone. It is unreal just how often that happens!
Holly green fuzz batmat! The first house an inspector signs off as "Mold Free" will be the begining of the end for that business.
Sorry, I meant to say batman.
Wow! What a concept, and what were they thinking when "they" wrote that into a bill? I tend to agree with two trains of thought: 1) it's a kneejerk overrreaction to the dangers of mold (what, you're going to ban blue cheese, too?) and 2) someone must be looking forward to making money off this. Please don't let WA lead the way for the rest of the country -- what a mess!
Jay, I figured you were busy:) The picture is mushrooms growing on the side of a termite nest I saw in Mexico a few years back.
Curtis----for sure----you mean you aren't going to be first?:)
Shoshana, oh I think is that we will have to certify that the house is "peanut free"----we all know how dangerous that stuff is:)
I agree with Jay's comments - ah government at work! Whenever I was furloughed for a day when I worked for the federal government because Congress hadn't passed a budget for my agency and there was no money to pay us, I always thought that was a good day for the rest of America!
Humm! I sell real estate on the Washington Coast where people go to gather mushrooms in October. Therefore, you might as well put a skull and cross bones on all of our properties if we start searching for mold.
I don't get it? Currently funding is an issue, our county has made septics an issue, and now they want to make mold an issue too. They better Dummy Up and focus on getting the real estate market moving and back-off on new rules and regulations because if a home doesn't sell they don't get their excise tax.
By the way, do you know what happened to that one bill where all new construction will have to have a sprinkler system installed in the home?
Jackie - it made its way to Virginia.
Lise - when I say I like gridlock, I really do! By the way, my grandmother built the first house in Chevy Chase on Jocelyn Street just off Connecticut Ave. She bought a lot on a dairy farm between Reno and Military Roads! Growing up there, that was my old stomping grounds until I was 13. Nearly every weekend at the Avalon Theater.
Lisa, yes---the age old story about government----almost as many problems as the private sector:)
Jackie, sprinkler systems for new construction is coming---soon
Jay, and why do you like gridlock?:)
Thanks for sharing this. This doesn't surprise me and it's likely to find its way south to Oregon if it passes. Seems environmental bills of all kinds start in California or Washington, then start moving across the country. I remember when Washington legislators wanted to ban some naturally occuring substance because it had a minute chance of being carcinogenic. You can't ban what nature makes. Like mold.
Marcy, as I said, mold is a "building science" issue----not a mold issue.
BECAUSE THEY CAN'T DO ANY DAMAGE WHEN NOTHING IS GETTING DONE!!!
Jay, old buddy----that is dang cynical:)
Oh dear ... I hope no-one examines the chunk of cheese that seems to want to inhabit my fridge periodically. Who only knows where that green stuff has spread .... not to mention that difficult to reach corner of the shower door underneath the tiny little seal ... you know the elusive area where even a toothpick can't reach with an application of bleach.
Certifying a home to be mold-free is ridiculous. Especially here in the moldy wet Pacific Northwest!
Gay, well it is ridiculous especially given that there are no established protocols as to upper limits. Is someone actually going to come forward and establish what the "acceptable" levels of the various kinds of molds will be allowed in homes given that some amount will always be present? Who will decide which of the molds will be tested for and which ones will not? This is a can of worms that must not be opened in my opinion. There are over 400,000 different kinds of mold----many of which are "black" by the way-----250,000 mold spores can fit on the head of a pin without being stacked up:) Reminds me of the old Monty Python movie line "every sperm is sacred----every sperm is great." :)
No, Charlie, no it's not.
;)
Charlie,
It would be nice if they, legislators, would take a peak at the standards used by all of the major home inspector association. The board is totally non-plussed by this one. Any inspectors looking at this need to know that this is coming from neophytes, lawmakers, and not the board.
Jay, don't like to go there ;)
Steve, and before it gets to them it comes from some disgruntled tax payer that knows even less perhaps.
Looks like the folks in your State have the same problem that the folks in our State do. The legislate for the sake of legislating. These idiots just wear me out. They put the car in gear while they leave their brain on their desk...
I can see this as a side-effect of licensing. Once you are licensed, and government has some say, the legislators can, each year, pump out their wish list and then inspectors have to fight it or give in. I guess this might be a forever thing. Maybe next year we will be expected to ID all Chinese drywall. They just think the job is much simpler than it really is.
Michael, I think the way any State Legislature works is that if any citizen can get the ear of a congress person and then can get a bill together they do. It is how our system works. That said I do think that most legislators do not put enough effort into really figuring out what the issues are from both sides before writing the bill----it would save both sides a lot of headaches and we would end up with better legislation or none as the case might warrant.
Steve, as you know---people can get bills submitted up the yin-yang----it is still a long road to haul to get it passed. Concerned citizens need to step up and stay vigilant.
Charles
Great blog! This bill, and our legislators frustrate me to no end.
I have written every legislator on the senate committee, and my own legislators about this bill.
What bothers me is these legislators look at the issue of mold in its' simplest form, and seemingly have no concept of the complexities surrounding the mold discussion. I really wish they understood half of the things they vote on in Olympia.
I agree with you, that there is no way to absolutely say there is "no mold" in any of the homes we inspect. It is all around us everyday, along with many other allergens, pollen, etc.
In my opinion the legislators are simply making it easier for consumers to be defrauded by unregulated and controversial "mold is gold" inspections, screenings, testing, etc. With no existing federal or state standards, what constitutes a mold inspection?
It is ridiculous.
Thanks for getting the word out.
Harold---thanks----we just need to be a squeakier wheel than the mold guys:)
Charles,
I looked at the 16 pages of bills that WAR is tracking Washington Realtors Bill Tracking and I did not see anything on this? Is there a way for you to give them a nudge?
Jodie
Hi Jodie, I don't see 5644 on the list either----the other two are 6433 and 6434. You would probably have better luck getting WAR to add it to the watch list than I would:)
I will give it a shot Charles. I'll send it to SAR Govt Affairs Committee and WAR!
I'm not a realtor, I'm a tenant. Your post came up with the results for my search on mold abatement.
I am looking into the Landlord-Tenant laws because of this issue: We recently moved into an older home on Spokane's South Hill. A beautiful home with hardwood floors, leaded glass, old fixtures...and a stone and mortar foundation. While we were still in the process of moving in, we woke up to several inches of water in the basement. We notified the landlord, who sent his maintenance man with a squeegee and a 20" box fan. I lost quite a bit as I had moved things to the basement to make room as we were moving in furniture. Fortunately much that was on the floor was in plastic totes and sustained no damage. Unfortunately, the immediate damage came in under our deductible so was a total loss. Now approximately twoo weeks later, we have yellowish "dust on the stone foundation walls and adjoining walls. We informed the landlord who said he would send his maintenance man again, that it was probably just old paint coming through. We told him we were certain it was mold spores. The maintenance man didn't show. We did some further investigating on our own. Every area where the yellow "dust" shows on the white paint is on a bumpy area that is spongy to the touch. Most rocks aren't spongy. We poked it with a screwdriver and it sank in under the current layer of paint exposing more yellow dust and some brown and gray dust as well. Obviously this problem was in existence long before our tenancy began, and was not admitted to by our landlord, or disclosed along with the lead paint form in the contract.
I didn't read the law you posted, and I know there is mold and mildew everywhere...but I would have rather seen the mold and known it was there so I could plan accordingly, than to have it undisclosed, hidden and denied. Frankly, I would not have rented this home for that reason. The basement was supposed to be my workshop. I have fabrics, dyes, paints, canvases metal and wooden tools and machines that would be compromised by that kind of constant exposure to moisture and mold. Even if what you fear does not come to pass, disclosure of the locations of areas of mold and mildew should be subject to full disclosure.
Thanks for letting me vent!