ANCHOR LEAD
WOULD YOU BUY A HOME IF YOU KNEW YOU WERE SHARING IT WITH THOUSANDS OF MOLD SPORES? USED TO BE... FIND A MOLD PROBLEM IN A HOME WAS A DEAL BREAKER. BUT AS ____________ TELLS US IN OUR "HEADS UP" REPORT... MORE AND MORE PEOPLE ARE CONSIDERING IT AN OPPORTUNITY.

NATS: Length: :04
"I walked over and I was standing in my socks and my socks got wet."

TRACK ONE: Length: 07
THAT WAS THE FIRST SIGN OF TROUBLE FOR SUZANNE WIETING ("WHEAT-ing"). THE RESULT? WELL... TAKE A LOOK AT THE BATHROOM IN SUZANNE'S BRAND NEW HOME.

SOT
KEY@: :13Suzanne Wieting, Homeowner
"We have mold in the floorboards. Not a great deal but enough that you'd have to be concerned about it going up into the wallboards."

TRACK TWO: Length: 10
MOLD INSPECTOR LORA DURAK DISCOVERED A SMALL PLUMBING LEAK HAD TURNED INTO A MOLD PROBLEM. LORA SAYS FINDS LIKE THIS ARE UNPLEASANT... BUT NO REASON TO WALK AWAY FROM A REAL ESTATE DEAL.

SOT
KEY@: :30 Lora Durak, Indoor Environmental Health Specialist
"We give them the facts. This is going to cost some money but it's fixable most of the time."

TRACK THREE: Length: 07
IN THIS HOME... LORA FOUND A MOLDY WALL FROM BAD PLUMBING IN THE SHOWER. IT WAS A MINOR REPAIR... AND A GOOD BARGAINING CHIP FOR THE BUYER.

SOT
KEY@:44 Lora Durak, Indoor Environmental Health Specialist
"If we find something like this and it needs work they can write off the price of the house 5,000 dollars maybe."

TRACK FOUR Length: 06
BUT WHAT ABOUT THE DREADED "BLACK MOLD" THAT CAN PRODUCE TOXINS? LORA SAYS EVEN THAT CAN BE MANAGABLE.

SOT
KEY@:56 Lora Durak, Indoor Environmental Health Specialist
"It could probably be cleaned up. It just depends on the extent of the damage."

TRACK FIVE: Length: 19
EXPERTS SAY SPRAYING BLEACH DOESN'T SOLVE THE PROBLEM--- THE MOLD WILL LIKELY RETURN. INSTEAD... THE MOLDY SURFACES NEED TO BE REPLACED..AND THE SOURCE OF THE MOISTURE STOPPED. BUYERS SHOULD INSIST REPAIRS ARE DONE BY PEOPLE THEY CHOOSE.
SUZANNE MADE THE HOMEBUILDER REPLACE HER BATHROOM FLOOR AND FLOORBOARDS.
BUT SHE NEVER CONSIDERED WALKING AWAY.

SOT
KEY@: 1:19 Suzanne Wieting, Homeowner
"It took a long time to build this house. I like this house."

TRACK SIX: Length: 07
SHE SAYS THE WORK BEING DONE ON HER HOME NOW... AT THE BUILDER'S EXPENSE... IS BRINGING HER PEACE OF MIND WITHOUT HURTING THE VALUE OF HER HOME.

SOT
NO KEY
"In the future we'll be mold free."

TRACK SEVEN: Length: 01
THIS IS _________ REPORTING.

ANCHOR TAG
Producers: The link to the EPA guidelines is: http://www.epa.gov/mold/
TYPICALLY... CORRECTING A MOLD PROBLEM IS NOT COVERED BY INSURANCE. SOME INSURANCE COMPANIES ARE OFFERING MOLD INSURANCE RIDERS THAT PROVIDCE ADDITIONAL COVERAGE.
YOU CAN DOWNLOAD THE E-P-A GUIDELINES FOR FIXING MOLD YOU'LL FIND THE LINK AT OUR WEB SITE.

Sources:

Lora Durak
Certified Mold Imnspector
Miramold
Durham, NC
919-949-5224
Ms. Durak is an indoor environmental specialist and a certified mold inspector. She conducts pre-purchase mold inspections on homes.

John Millett
Environmental Protection Agency
Washington DC
202-564-7842
Mr. Millett provided information about EPA mold remediate recommendations for this story.