> By Nancy L. Othon
> South Florida Sun-Sentinel
>
> July 31, 2006
>
> WEST LAKE WORTH -- After months of headaches, nausea and occasional
> seizures, Andrea Amaral abandoned her custom-built dream home, blaming the
> mold that grew in it for her medical problems.
>
> The tastefully designed home in the Savannah Estates neighborhood on U.S.
> 441 had no catastrophic water damage. No flooding, no hurricane damage.
>
> But about a year after moving in, the family discovered mold growing on
> some air conditioning vents, a smoke detector in Amaral's bedroom, ducts
> and in the attic.
>
> Now the Amarals are battling the builder, Town & Country Homes Florida, a
> K. Hovnanian Co., in an attempt to break free of the home.
>
> "The builder knows there is this mold in my house, he knows there are
> these toxins, he knows that the mold in the house matches the mold in my
> blood, but he won't do a damn thing," said Amaral, 47. "All I want him to
> do is buy my house. Let me and my family move on so I can get a clean
> house."
>
> The Amarals first alerted the builder to their mold problem in January,
> meeting personally with officials and sending e-mails requesting help.
>
> Tim Kelly, president of the local Town & County division in Boynton Beach,
> said the company is investigating.
>
> "Research is still being conducted by a third-party consultant who is an
> expert in that field," Kelly said. "Just because a claim is made doesn't
> mean it's substantiated or it's a builder responsibility."
>
> According to the Amarals, Town & Country previously offered to clean the
> house, but declined to pay the roughly $20,000 the Amarals spent on
> lodging, environmental testing and living expenses.
>
> "I don't know how it would be possible to make this house livable for my
> wife," Steve Amaral said.
>
> Andrea Amaral and her family lived in a Hampton Inn for nine weeks until
> she left for the Bahamas for several weeks this summer for some
> doctor-recommended ocean air.
>
> She and her daughters are now staying at her mother's, while Steve Amaral,
> unaffected by the mold, stayed home.
>
> The Amarals moved into the $416,000 home in June 2004.
>
> Less than eight months later, Amaral began to get sick.
>
> She also experienced seizures, long after a prior seizure problem she
> experienced after a 2002 car crash had been stabilized.
>
> Steve Amaral is confident the house was improperly insulated, leading to
> the mold build-up, while Town & Country officials say the culprit is
> likely the air conditioning unit, he said.
>
> "It appears the Amarals have a significant problem in their home," said
> the Amaral's attorney Stephen Cohen.
>
> "Testing shows that, and Ms. Amaral has certainly proven to be ill as a
> result of the exposure."
>
> One of Andrea Amaral's doctors said Amaral's mold allergy testing is so
> high, it suggests she is suffering from what doctors term "non-specific
> building related illness."
>
> Symptoms can be as minor as a runny nose. Andrea Amaral's symptoms are
> much more complex, said Dr. Harold Robbins, an expert in occupational and
> environmental medicine based in Deerfield Beach.
>
> "Whereas most people may not develop problems, she is a more high-risk
> individual," Robbins said. "The levels of some of the mold that they found
> in the air in the home from what I understand in reviewing the records,
> was pretty high."
>
> High levels of several types of mold were found in Andrea Amaral's blood,
> according to her test records.
>
> Andrea Amaral now receives weekly nutritional therapy intravenously to
> help stabilize her immune system and she'll be treated for her mold
> allergy when she is healthy enough, Robbins said.
>
> Her neurologist, Harold Friend, said Amaral's headaches "significantly
> interfered" with her life.
>
> Friend said when he attributed the headaches to the mold, he did so by
> making a "diagnosis of exclusion."
>
> "We ruled out everything else," Friend said. "The thing that demonstrates
> it's the primary cause is that when she left the premises, she was much
> better."
>
> Kelly said no other Savannah Estates homeowner has reported mold problems.
>
> It's unlikely that the company will buy back their home because that's not
> normally done, he said.
>
> "I take this very personally and very seriously and we are responding as
> expeditiously as we can," he said.
>
> Nancy L. Othon can be reached at nothon@... or 561-243-6633.
>
> this is a BIG Problem for many Rich or Poor only the poor is put on the
> streets and worse we are people too.
>
> Copyright (c) 2006, South Florida Sun-Sentinel
>
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