12 replies to this topic

[Anthony2173]

This was an interesting news report. Looks like those who bought condos are getting some support.

http://www.kcra.com/...587/detail.html

[bordercolliefan]

I'm glad the buyers are getting some relief. It sounds like a greedy property company who wanted to dump these units on unsuspecting buyers.

It's interesting that Prometheus now says it will do any necessary mold remediation. That could be more costly than Prometheus ever dreamed. I know there was a house in Fair Oaks where the mold got so out of control... after spending tens of thousands of dollars trying to fix it, it was ultimately decided the whole house needed to be razed and rebuilt.

What a nightmare.

[BRITTLESKITTLE]

I came very close to buying one. Thank god I didnt. A friend of mine that lived in that complex said she saw black mold. I wondered if any disclosures were made.

[Michael Hughes]

I came very close to buying one. Thank god I didnt. A friend of mine that lived in that complex said she saw black mold. I wondered if any disclosures were made.

No disclosures were made to us regarding any kind of mold.

[DrKoz23]

No disclosures were made to us regarding any kind of mold.

Sounds as if you have some hope! Probably not good that they didn't disclose this info.

[Deb aka Resume Lady]

No disclosures were made to us regarding any kind of mold.

As a buyer, did you have your own home inspection performed?

[Jaxx]

As a buyer, did you have your own home inspection performed?

Home inspections can be a good idea, but they often miss things and have a clause in their contracts that basically says, if they miss something, they are not responsible.

I'm sure these places did not suddenly develop mold as soon as they were converted to condos. Why wasn't the problem remedied before?
Are the people who were selling Waterford the same people who owned them when they were apartments?
Is mold really the biggest issue that caused the repartmenting or were they just not selling because they were too pricey for what you got regardless of mold?
They should have gutted all the bathrooms and redid them as part of the renovations. I noticed from photos that they had what looked like old, dated bathrooms with just new, floors, paint, faucets and towel bars.

[Michael Hughes]

Home inspections can be a good idea, but they often miss things and have a clause in their contracts that basically says, if they miss something, they are not responsible.

I'm sure these places did not suddenly develop mold as soon as they were converted to condos. Why wasn't the problem remedied before?
Are the people who were selling Waterford the same people who owned them when they were apartments?
Is mold really the biggest issue that caused the repartmenting or were they just not selling because they were too pricey for what you got regardless of mold?
They should have gutted all the bathrooms and redid them as part of the renovations. I noticed from photos that they had what looked like old, dated bathrooms with just new, floors, paint, faucets and towel bars.

Nope the mold was there but the letter I speak of below (trying to discredit the owners) says the mold obviously developed just since mid 2005 when they started work on the property. That it couldn't have been there before, and about how good the property was when they purchased it.

FPI managed the community, and another company owned the property. They sold to Prometheus who kept FPI to lease apartments until they had finished renovations. After they stopped selling the units at #41, they kept FPI for another month before bringing in their people to manage. It is now owned and operated by Prometheus.

I am guessing mold. They say it was slow sales. I talked to several realtors who specialize in condos who see a good market for them.

Prometheus = Waterford Place (41 Condos)
Pacifica Companies = Alicante Vlillas, Altura Villas, The Highlands

Pacifica would be most like this condo conversion, and for those who have seen Altura Villas, they include granite, hardwood, crown molding, etc. To get that here you had to pay $10,000 + extra (and appliances were not included). The price was low $200's on up (or in the high 100's if you got them on special), but now we see why. Plus apparently this complex gets a lot of crime.

As far as the towel bars and all bathroom fixtures (besides tub surround), we had to have them replaced multiple times because they really are as cruddy as they look.

Oh and as an update to the condo situation, if anyone is reading this post, all developments from the last week:

- the kids who have been vomitting blood were tested. "Normal" is considered very low levels of mold. (Percentages in the teens at worst). The percentage of mold in their saliva and blood was in the 30 - 40%'s (these are the sons of one of our neighbors).

- the contractors attempted to break & enter (yes you heard right) into two different units, one by removing the screen off the window, and a second by trying to jimmy open the door, in order to remove signage that discusses the mold issue hanging in windows (they were caught by several residents).

- the indvidual managing our HOA was fired after I showed the managing company where they had violated three clauses of the Davis-Stirling Act and how they had violated case law set forth in 1986's Frances T v Village Green.

- the developer moved several renters from Waterford into Oak Brook off Folsom Blvd (which they purchased and now also manage). The renters had to move to a hotel within 24 hours because Oak Brook has even worse mold than Waterford Place. One of the renters moved into a unit where she went to store items in the water heater closet, found a leak, pushed on the wall, and had the entire wall give way revealing a thick layer of mold and a lack of insulation.

- the developer sent out a letter to all renters/owners on the property trying to discredit the story appearing on KCRA as well as all of the owners.

All that in one weeks time

[jhetta]

I worked for Pacifica Companies in San Diego a few years ago. I just found this article by searching for the company and mold. Based on my experienced with them I am not at all surprised to find an article with these issues.

I pity anyone who bought a property from this company and there are thousands.

[Robert Gary]

This was an interesting news report. Looks like those who bought condos are getting some support.

http://www.kcra.com/...587/detail.html

I wouldn't want to live in a house with mold. However, it should be noted that there is no actual scientific evidence that mold affects human health. There is empirical evidence that mold in homes is less common today that it was 30+ years ago and that those occupants did not seem to express symptoms. New York started the "mold laws" but did so without scientific evidence believing that they didn't want to wait for such evidence before enacting the laws.

-Robert

[Darth Lefty]

I wouldn't want to live in a house with mold. However, it should be noted that there is no actual scientific evidence that mold affects human health. There is empirical evidence that mold in homes is less common today that it was 30+ years ago and that those occupants did not seem to express symptoms. New York started the "mold laws" but did so without scientific evidence believing that they didn't want to wait for such evidence before enacting the laws.

-Robert

You sound just like a lawyer for the mold industry!

(tee hee)

[Michael Hughes]

I wouldn't want to live in a house with mold. However, it should be noted that there is no actual scientific evidence that mold affects human health. There is empirical evidence that mold in homes is less common today that it was 30+ years ago and that those occupants did not seem to express symptoms. New York started the "mold laws" but did so without scientific evidence believing that they didn't want to wait for such evidence before enacting the laws.

-Robert

That is false. There is scientific evidence. They have successfully over the last twenty years years linked with several published studies level 5 black mold to serious health issues. I will see if I can find them online to link to.

[Robert Gary]

That is false. There is scientific evidence. They have successfully over the last twenty years years linked with several published studies level 5 black mold to serious health issues. I will see if I can find them online to link to.

That's true. There has been lots of successful legal studies. However, the scientific evidence of in house mold affecting humans isn't there. Again, the mold isn't anything new in the last 10 years the legal environment is. In house mold was more common 20 years ago.

-robert