What Impact is Mold Having on the Economy?

Stachybotrys, also known as black or toxic mold, is quickly becoming a problem not only in homes and buildings, but in pocketbooks of building owners, contractors, and insurance companies.

There has been a large rise in black mold legal claims being filed, many of which are getting serious attention from the courts.

In addition, insurance claims that are not being properly recognized by the insurance companies are being transferred to the court system as well.

What impact is this having upon the economy? While you may not have been personally affected by a loss resulting from black mold claims, the losses occurring around the country are affecting us all.

Here are some of the reasons why we all should care about an increasingly reported black mold problem.

Reasons Why Mold is Important to Us :

• Mold problems are not distributed evenly across the country:

  Losses due to mold claims are, for instance, thirty times greater in Nevada than they are in Wisconsin. New home construction and the use of air conditioners has helped contribute to an increase in mold claims in the western and southwestern states.

  This uneven distribution of claims means certain builders and lenders are taking the brunt of all the claims, leaving them little profit and often forcing them into bankruptcy.

• Juries are awarding multiple millions of dollars:

  There are already several instances of individuals or groups being awarded multi-million dollar lawsuits. These suits bankrupt lenders, raise insurance costs, and put builders out of business.

  This is increasing costs drastically, as builders themselves need to purchase more costly insurance to cover their losses.

• Insurance companies and lenders are greatly impacted:

  Both lenders and insurance companies are experiencing high rates of loss due to black mold claims. Insurance companies are paying out millions in claims, and lenders are being affected by bankruptcies filed by both homebuilders and building owners.

  Those increases are, of course, passed onto the public.

• Mold is now a “class action” negligence:

  The losses incurred with black mold suits are so high due to the fact that plaintiffs are no longer limited to an individual residing in a home.

  There are employees suing companies, companies suing builders, tenants suing property owners, etc. One doesn’t need a big imagination to see how vast the class action lawsuits can become.

Do You Want to be a Homeowner?

With the presence of black mold increasing along with the increase in home construction and natural disasters, it only stands to reason that building owners, builders, lenders, and insurance companies will continue to take the brunt of losses claimed to be from mold.

While we may not fit into that category, most of us would like to be homeowners one day, and the negative effect the excess litigation will have on the fees charged by these affected companies will have a great impact on the cost to purchase housing and insurance in the future.

For this reason, we all need to be made aware of the economic costs of black mold.

Further Recommended Reading :

• 10 Health Risks of Toxic Mold
• 10 EPA Mold Prevention Tips

Joslyn from the Moldblogger Team