Hisch hired an engineer. The engineer found moisture aroundthe windows and concluded that was what caused the mold. The engineer said inhis report that moisture usually results from defective installation ordefective manufacturing. He listed several steps to fix the problem. But Hischsays she couldn't get her builder to take all those steps.
"He was trying to put a band-aid on the situation," Hisch said. "band-aid that would continue to cause us health concerns and financialdifficulties as long as we'd own the house.”
In 2007, an appraiser assessed the damage and estimated it would drop the valueof the home by $179,000. Our investigation found the Hisch family was notalone.
Teresa Kellett discovered she had a mold problem in her home as well.
"The house was just left exposed to the elements over the course of the winter," Kellett said.
Her dream home turned into a moldy home too. After just a few months, their home under construction had black spots on the outside. Kellett said water was leaking inside allowing mold to grow.
"We have pictures of doors just coated in mold," Kellett said.
Kellett says her builder didn't finish the home in the time allotted in the contract, so she walked away from the deal and the $30,000 she put down on the house.
"We tried to get our deposit back to no avail," she said.
Call For Action uncovered two homes, two families and two different builders. Both consumers are now tangled in a legal mess. Both consumers won their legal fight in court, but they can't collect their judgments.
For Kellett, it has been three years since she won her $30,000 judgment against Northland Land Development Corp., Inc. But company owner Jay Wilson hasn't paid.
"We've just been told that he has no resources to pay us," Kellett said.
But Call For Action found that Jay Wilson is still building. He’s working under a different company name.
"We couldn't have felt more taken advantage of," Kellett said.
We tracked down the builder, Jay Wilson, and reminded him of the $30,000 judgment. Wilson disputes the validity of the claim.
"Because those costs were associated with upgrades in their house they wanted," Jay Wilson said.
But court records show, that judgment still stands. Wilson, however, still claims no more responsibility, stating… “that company is no longer in business," Wilson added.
When pressed about his continued building operations, Wilson offered this explanation.
"I can still build today because uh...I just can."
