Mold reporting in Louisiana

[kurt]

I'm not sure.....still trying to catch my breath.

[Scottpat]

Louisiana's moldy Pandoras Box!

[Marc]

This is not a negative reflection on Marc and his hard work, but is this regulation as silly as I think?

Les, The part of this legislation on collusion between agents and home inspectors is a total flop. The attorney in charge of codification dropped the ball on me and ignored the authoring senator's instruction to work with me on that language. As for the mold reporting part, it is indeed silly but that's the best I could do. If I could do this this again, I'd get an attorney to do the codification for me before I even get started with the legislature, ala Scott.

The HI Board is mostly responsible for that language on mold reporting. I personally attended the 3 hour meeting where they sweated it out. It's regrettable, but as I said earlier, I'm not in the driver's seat and my influence only goes so far. I've absolutely no influence at all on the Board. They won't listen to a single word of mine.

Erby, I don't know why you think lawyers will now come after HIs and say we shoulda seen that mold growth when mold reporting will be under the same visual limitations as everything else in the SOP. Sure, they can do it but they could also do the same for everything else we report. Why is mold singled out? Somehow, despite numerous credible sources on mold growth in the home, some HIs still feel that mold is too hazardous a topic to touch. What separates me from nearly everyone else is that I think that feeling is vastly overrated. It was deserving in 1976 when mold was not well understood and most anything that an HI could have said would have been wrong but times have changed. Credible information is readily available:

http://www.epa.gov/mold/moldguide.html

https://www.osha.gov/dts/shib/shib101003.html

http://www.cdc.gov/mold/faqs.htm

http://www.niehs.nih.gov/health/topics/agents/mold/

I could come back on this at next year's legislative session and try for improvements. What worries me the most now is that the HI Board, which happens to be chaired by a mold inspector, will answer as a mold inspector instead of as an HI. The chair will use this Bill to milk the cow for mold inspectors statewide, so to speak. That could not only reverse any good this Bill could have done but could create more problems than the exclusion itself ever did in 38 years.

Marc

[Erby]

Erby, ...Why is mold singled out?...

Because, through your efforts, it is now a "requirement" instead of an exclusion.

Don't get me wrong. If I see it, I report it with about a page and a half of information.

I just disagree with it being a "requirement".

[Marc]

Erby, ...Why is mold singled out?...

Because, through your efforts, it is now a "requirement" instead of an exclusion.

Don't get me wrong. If I see it, I report it with about a page and a half of information.

I just disagree with it being a "requirement".

Home buyers can be harmed in two ways by an HI that chooses not to report mold: by the cost of hiring a mold remediation contractor and by it's impact on a consumer's health. The legislature cannot dictate rules, just the laws. It asked the Board last year (Senate Resolution 128) to consider the wisdom of this ancient exclusion on mold reporting, to no avail, hence the legislature's action.

Maybe HIs in other parts of the country choose to report mold. That's good but here, many do not. The Board has been very consistent over the years in stressing that HIs should never utter the word 'mold', much less report it. An urban myth gone wild.

My education at TIJ University was crucial in learning the truth about this harmful exclusion. Until a decent HI school is established, this is the best place to be.

Marc

[Marc]

The latest language:

A licensed home inspector shall include in his written report of the home inspection the presence of suspected mold or microbial growth if during the course of inspecting the systems and components of the structure in accordance with the provisions of this Chapter and board rules and regulations, the licensed home inspector discovers visually observable evidence of suspected mold or microbial growth.

'Microbial growth' was removed.

'Chapter' refers to the remainder of home inspection law which includes the limitation that a home inspection is a visual-only inspection.

Marc

[kurt]

The legislation will have the force of a baked potato exploding in a microwave.

Is there no end to the humiliation associated with being a HI? I think I answered my own question.......

[Nolan Kienitz]

The legislation will have the force of a baked potato exploding in a microwave.

Is there no end to the humiliation associated with being a HI? I think I answered my own question.......

Kurt,

Would that be before or after you added butter to the potato?

[kurt]

I like to do the butter on semi crispy skins after I demolish the insides (accompanied by sour cream).

Then I go for my angioplasty.