Mold caused health issues, family says
A Daniel Island family who fled their home after receiving mold test results is suing builder D.R. Horton Inc., alleging negligence resulting in permanent and life- threatening physical injuries.
An attorney for Benjamin and Joy Allen filed the lawsuit in Berkeley County alleging that substandard construction led to water intrusion and mold that seriously affected their health and that of their 3-year-old daughter.
A separate mold-related lawsuit was filed against D.R. Horton last month on behalf of three other families.
The Allens left their home more than two months ago and have been living in rental housing. Their suit filed Aug. 7 asks the court to award damages sufficient to correct the construction defects, and it seeks damages because of D.R. Horton's alleged refusal to fix the problem.
"We definitely want to be reasonable, and we definitely want to work with D.R. Horton toward an amicable compromise solution," Benjamin Allen said.
Attorney Kyle Dillard issued a statement on behalf of D.R. Horton: "D.R. Horton, Inc. previously stated that it would have the Allens' house inspected by a certified industrial hygienist and then offer to perform any work recommended by the hygienist. We have done exactly that. In short, we have asked for a chance to repair the problem, and we have even offered to allow the Allens to approve the contractors that will be used. Nevertheless, the Allens have chosen to reject Horton's offer and deny us the chance to help them get back into their home."
Benjamin Allen said he was open to the company's offer if he can choose a contractor, who along with a professional engineer, will identify work to fully remediate the home according to building codes and current industry standards.
Allen said he and his daughter were diagnosed with asthma, which he attributed to mold.
The suit says that the mold problem has compromised Allen's immune system and exacerbated his multiple sclerosis, which will shorten his life expectancy. His daughter has experienced allergic reactions to mold and fungal growth that will require future medical care, the suit states. The Allens have said their daughter has had a host of illnesses that the family worries are related to the home's air-quality.
Reach Prentiss Findlay at 937-5711 or pfindlay@postand courier.com.
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Comments
JohnS (anonymous) says...
How long was the house leaking? The builder offered to correct the problem. The Allen's sound like troublemakers who just want out of their house.
August 14, 2008 at 7:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
DoaMM (anonymous) says...
"I want something for nothing!"
I wonder if they were having financial trouble with a mortgage. Plus, you live in one of the most humid states in the union...AND on the coast.
Move to Arizona...
August 14, 2008 at 8:02 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
ftttf007 (anonymous) says...
It's good to see that a family is willing to stand up against a large national corporation and it abundance of corporate attorneys. D.R. Horton is obviously only concerned about saving public face and could obviously care less about the home owners and customer service. It seems that the Alen family wants to be reasonable and compromise, but D.R. Horton just wants to follow the guidance of its paid guns.
Good for the Allen's in not cowering to D.R. Horton.
August 14, 2008 at 10:14 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
harvardlaw98 (anonymous) says...
This is my first time commenting on the Post and Courier website, but WPC3IOP is absolutely correct about how amazing it is when people smell money, that is, if the people he is referring to are employed by D.R. Horton.
D.R. Horton, according to past news stories, cut corners to save cost. D.R. Horton hired migrant workers to save cost. D.R. Horton wants to fix a small percentage of the problem to save cost. D.R. Horton could care less about customer service and simply wants to save cost.
It seems that D.R. Horton does not want to be reasonable and wants to save costs by doing an half-a** repair.
It truly is amazing what happens when people smell money; D.R. Horton has apparently been smelling it for years.
August 14, 2008 at 10:36 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
MooMoo (anonymous) says...
Something is missing in this story. If the builder stepped up, why the need for lawsuits? I'll tell you why: the builders dragged their arses for too long in their willingness to address the issues, and now that their hand has been forced, they want to act as though they were willing all along to fix the problems to avert a lawsuit.
Several years ago, my Centex home had a leaking roof above a bay window. For over two years, repeated leaking after every hard rain, and despite repeated "Band-aid' repairs on the part of the builder, what got them to finally make me whole was a 'strength in numbers' scenario - I drafted a letter to every single homeowner in my 'hood with the same elevation outlining my problems and asking if they had same. The response was overwhelming, and it was determined by a contractor I hired that there was a latent defect in the construction of the flashing. So, not only did Centex finally fix my home, they did so under the supervision of my contractor at no charge to me, and paid my contractor fees. By making alot of noise and enlisting the same from others similarly affected, we were finally made whole. It was a stressful but worthy battle.
August 14, 2008 at 10:47 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
newbattleaxe (anonymous) says...
These homes are not the first to have significant construction flaws. I'd be willing to bet that most developments have a pretty large percentage of houses with flaws.
Not all the homeowners are able to get the builders to even talk, though. Some of the flaws don't show up for years after the developer has moved on.
Does anyone else remember the rash of house fires in the late 1970's and into the 1980's that were caused by improper installation of aluminum wiring? How many of those homeowners got repaired or rebuilt homes for free out of those builders?
And, what about the second or third owners of these faulty homes? To whom do they complain when faulty construction is discovered?
August 14, 2008 at 11:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
drp7773 (anonymous) says...
If I remember right, there are several homes in this subdivision that has mold now and if I remember the previous stories on this the builder denied and stalled any action on this for quite sometime also these families have been stuck doing the investigation on their own at their expense, and now that the truth has come out on shoddy building standards that the project managers are in charge of to over see when the county inspectors can not be at the site that in this case the flashing is put on before the siding goes up. These people like most would have never thought it would turn out this bad and yes some molds are very dangerous and in this case should never have gone this far to make people very sick. No I say they are very just in this lawsuit (and I dislike lawyers) but this could have all been prevented even if they didn't catch the workers doing wrong, they could have stepped up and corrected this situation when it was first reported. Shame on this builder and shame on SC for allowing this shoddy work to continue, there is no way when ever these inspectors showed up they did not see some of this bad work done and if you want to see why the work is shoddy, feel free to ride out to any new jobsite and see what workers are there. oh wait they are not allowed to hire without the right paperwork now huh....yeah ok.
August 14, 2008 at 1:05 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
jammanofdi (anonymous) says...
The only thing missing is the name of the neighborhood - I wonder why it was absent. I live in the Peninsula off of Clements Ferry Rd (Daniel Island-ish), in Berkeley County - and our neighborhood was also built by DR Horton. Hmmm.. I'll have to do some more investigating on the Berkeley County website. I must say though, that we haven't had any issues with our home thank goodness.
August 14, 2008 at 1:13 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
paulc84 (anonymous) says...
I love DoaMMs comment about the family having trouble with their mortgage. The article says they be paying for a rental home and apparently still covering there mortgage--I sure they are under financial stress. I can't believe D.R. Horton is not helping this family out. D.R. HOrton deserve to get there pants sued off.
I know I'll never buy a D.R. Horton home.
If anyone else reading this lives in a D.R. Horton home, I sure as heck would get in inspected.
August 14, 2008 at 1:38 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
bunting (anonymous) says...
Jordan Court. In Etiwan Park.
August 14, 2008 at 9:10 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
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