Your GA & AL Military & New Home Specialist

It’s sort of the hidden cancer of this recession’s real estate foreclosure game. Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker.

Which is why an awful lot of people don’t want to talk about how many foreclosed homes may be infested with mold. By some estimates, nearly half the foreclosed houses in the U.S. now have mold problems.

Thousands of foreclosures have gone through the courts since 2008, according to the Warren Group, a company that tracks foreclosure statistics across the nation. Officials say they have no real way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold.

“This is really a buyer-beware situation,” says Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices with the state Department of Consumer Protection. “So if you’re going to buy a foreclosed home, you’d better know what you’re doing.”

Experts say foreclosed homes sweltering through hot, sticky summers like this one can be perfect growing environments for common indoor molds with lovely-sounding titles like cladosporium, penicillium, aspergillus and alternaria. (Those are the semi-bearable ones. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994.)

When a bank forecloses on a home, it often shuts off the electricity and heat during warm weather months and basically seals the house shut. “If you do that in a hot humid summer,” says David Goldstein, vice president of Mystic Air Quality, a consulting outfit that tests buildings for high levels of mold, “you’ve created a greenhouse.”

All that’s needed for mold to flourish is a little moisture, from a pipe or toilet, rainwater or humid air seeping between the cracks, that summer sun, and a food source, which is sheet rock.

Mold is everywhere. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer.

“All molds, from a health safety point of view, are treated the same,” says Goldstein, who says indoor molds almost never cause anything close to fatal illnesses unless someone has respiratory or immune systems that are already compromised. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties.

“We deal with people every day with health problems from mold,” says Robert Weitz. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group.

Testing for mold can cost $500 or more, Weitz explains, which means paying a lot for what is often very bad news. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash.

“Nobody really likes me,” jokes Goldstein, whose company does the same sort of testing, “because I get hired to tell you something’s wrong.”

“Mold is ubiquitous,” he points out. “It’s constantly in the air.” He argues the only time mold becomes a real problem is when there are significant amounts of humidity or water in a house, and there are other state disclosure requirements that do deal with that.

Goldstein says he’s been seeing mold problems in foreclosed homes since he got in the business 23 years ago.

“If there’s more foreclosures today … then obviously, numerically, you’re going to have more mold growing in more buildings because they’re closed up,” Goldstein says.

Essentially, he explains, “When buildings get closed up tight, those buildings rot.”

It’s sort of the hidden cancer of this recession’s real estate foreclosure game. Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker.

Which is why an awful lot of people don’t want to talk about how many foreclosed homes may be infested with mold. By some estimates, nearly half the foreclosed houses in the U.S. now have mold problems.

Thousands of foreclosures have gone through the courts since 2008, according to the Warren Group, a company that tracks foreclosure statistics across the nation. Officials say they have no real way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold.

“This is really a buyer-beware situation,” says Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices with the state Department of Consumer Protection. “So if you’re going to buy a foreclosed home, you’d better know what you’re doing.”

Experts say foreclosed homes sweltering through hot, sticky summers like this one can be perfect growing environments for common indoor molds with lovely-sounding titles like cladosporium, penicillium, aspergillus and alternaria. (Those are the semi-bearable ones. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994.)

When a bank forecloses on a home, it often shuts off the electricity and heat during warm weather months and basically seals the house shut. “If you do that in a hot humid summer,” says David Goldstein, vice president of Mystic Air Quality, a consulting outfit that tests buildings for high levels of mold, “you’ve created a greenhouse.”

All that’s needed for mold to flourish is a little moisture, from a pipe or toilet, rainwater or humid air seeping between the cracks, that summer sun, and a food source, which is sheet rock.

Mold is everywhere. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer.

“All molds, from a health safety point of view, are treated the same,” says Goldstein, who says indoor molds almost never cause anything close to fatal illnesses unless someone has respiratory or immune systems that are already compromised. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties.

“We deal with people every day with health problems from mold,” says Robert Weitz. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group.

Testing for mold can cost $500 or more, Weitz explains, which means paying a lot for what is often very bad news. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash.

“Nobody really likes me,” jokes Goldstein, whose company does the same sort of testing, “because I get hired to tell you something’s wrong.”

“Mold is ubiquitous,” he points out. “It’s constantly in the air.” He argues the only time mold becomes a real problem is when there are significant amounts of humidity or water in a house, and there are other state disclosure requirements that do deal with that.

Goldstein says he’s been seeing mold problems in foreclosed homes since he got in the business 23 years ago.

“If there’s more foreclosures today … then obviously, numerically, you’re going to have more mold growing in more buildings because they’re closed up,” Goldstein says.

Essentially, he explains, “When buildings get closed up tight, those buildings rot.”

It’s sort of the hidden cancer of this recession’s real estate foreclosure game. Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker.

Which is why an awful lot of people don’t want to talk about how many foreclosed homes may be infested with mold. By some estimates, nearly half the foreclosed houses in the U.S. now have mold problems.

Thousands of foreclosures have gone through the courts since 2008, according to the Warren Group, a company that tracks foreclosure statistics across the nation. Officials say they have no real way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold.

“This is really a buyer-beware situation,” says Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices with the state Department of Consumer Protection. “So if you’re going to buy a foreclosed home, you’d better know what you’re doing.”

Experts say foreclosed homes sweltering through hot, sticky summers like this one can be perfect growing environments for common indoor molds with lovely-sounding titles like cladosporium, penicillium, aspergillus and alternaria. (Those are the semi-bearable ones. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994.)

When a bank forecloses on a home, it often shuts off the electricity and heat during warm weather months and basically seals the house shut. “If you do that in a hot humid summer,” says David Goldstein, vice president of Mystic Air Quality, a consulting outfit that tests buildings for high levels of mold, “you’ve created a greenhouse.”

All that’s needed for mold to flourish is a little moisture, from a pipe or toilet, rainwater or humid air seeping between the cracks, that summer sun, and a food source, which is sheet rock.

Mold is everywhere. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer.

“All molds, from a health safety point of view, are treated the same,” says Goldstein, who says indoor molds almost never cause anything close to fatal illnesses unless someone has respiratory or immune systems that are already compromised. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties.

“We deal with people every day with health problems from mold,” says Robert Weitz. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group.

Testing for mold can cost $500 or more, Weitz explains, which means paying a lot for what is often very bad news. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash.

“Nobody really likes me,” jokes Goldstein, whose company does the same sort of testing, “because I get hired to tell you something’s wrong.”

“Mold is ubiquitous,” he points out. “It’s constantly in the air.” He argues the only time mold becomes a real problem is when there are significant amounts of humidity or water in a house, and there are other state disclosure requirements that do deal with that.

Goldstein says he’s been seeing mold problems in foreclosed homes since he got in the business 23 years ago.

“If there’s more foreclosures today … then obviously, numerically, you’re going to have more mold growing in more buildings because they’re closed up,” Goldstein says.

Essentially, he explains, “When buildings get closed up tight, those buildings rot.”

It’s sort of the hidden cancer of this recession’s real estate foreclosure game. Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker.

Which is why an awful lot of people don’t want to talk about how many foreclosed homes may be infested with mold. By some estimates, nearly half the foreclosed houses in the U.S. now have mold problems.

Thousands of foreclosures have gone through the courts since 2008, according to the Warren Group, a company that tracks foreclosure statistics across the nation. Officials say they have no real way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold.

“This is really a buyer-beware situation,” says Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices with the state Department of Consumer Protection. “So if you’re going to buy a foreclosed home, you’d better know what you’re doing.”

Experts say foreclosed homes sweltering through hot, sticky summers like this one can be perfect growing environments for common indoor molds with lovely-sounding titles like cladosporium, penicillium, aspergillus and alternaria. (Those are the semi-bearable ones. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994.)

When a bank forecloses on a home, it often shuts off the electricity and heat during warm weather months and basically seals the house shut. “If you do that in a hot humid summer,” says David Goldstein, vice president of Mystic Air Quality, a consulting outfit that tests buildings for high levels of mold, “you’ve created a greenhouse.”

All that’s needed for mold to flourish is a little moisture, from a pipe or toilet, rainwater or humid air seeping between the cracks, that summer sun, and a food source, which is sheet rock.

Mold is everywhere. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer.

“All molds, from a health safety point of view, are treated the same,” says Goldstein, who says indoor molds almost never cause anything close to fatal illnesses unless someone has respiratory or immune systems that are already compromised. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties.

“We deal with people every day with health problems from mold,” says Robert Weitz. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group.

Testing for mold can cost $500 or more, Weitz explains, which means paying a lot for what is often very bad news. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash.

“Nobody really likes me,” jokes Goldstein, whose company does the same sort of testing, “because I get hired to tell you something’s wrong.”

“Mold is ubiquitous,” he points out. “It’s constantly in the air.” He argues the only time mold becomes a real problem is when there are significant amounts of humidity or water in a house, and there are other state disclosure requirements that do deal with that.

Goldstein says he’s been seeing mold problems in foreclosed homes since he got in the business 23 years ago.

“If there’s more foreclosures today … then obviously, numerically, you’re going to have more mold growing in more buildings because they’re closed up,” Goldstein says.

Essentially, he explains, “When buildings get closed up tight, those buildings rot.”

It’s sort of the hidden cancer of this recession’s real estate foreclosure game. Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker.

Which is why an awful lot of people don’t want to talk about how many foreclosed homes may be infested with mold. By some estimates, nearly half the foreclosed houses in the U.S. now have mold problems.

Thousands of foreclosures have gone through the courts since 2008, according to the Warren Group, a company that tracks foreclosure statistics across the nation. Officials say they have no real way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold.

“This is really a buyer-beware situation,” says Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices with the state Department of Consumer Protection. “So if you’re going to buy a foreclosed home, you’d better know what you’re doing.”

Experts say foreclosed homes sweltering through hot, sticky summers like this one can be perfect growing environments for common indoor molds with lovely-sounding titles like cladosporium, penicillium, aspergillus and alternaria. (Those are the semi-bearable ones. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994.)

When a bank forecloses on a home, it often shuts off the electricity and heat during warm weather months and basically seals the house shut. “If you do that in a hot humid summer,” says David Goldstein, vice president of Mystic Air Quality, a consulting outfit that tests buildings for high levels of mold, “you’ve created a greenhouse.”

All that’s needed for mold to flourish is a little moisture, from a pipe or toilet, rainwater or humid air seeping between the cracks, that summer sun, and a food source, which is sheet rock.

Mold is everywhere. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer.

“All molds, from a health safety point of view, are treated the same,” says Goldstein, who says indoor molds almost never cause anything close to fatal illnesses unless someone has respiratory or immune systems that are already compromised. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties.

“We deal with people every day with health problems from mold,” says Robert Weitz. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group.

Testing for mold can cost $500 or more, Weitz explains, which means paying a lot for what is often very bad news. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash.

“Nobody really likes me,” jokes Goldstein, whose company does the same sort of testing, “because I get hired to tell you something’s wrong.”

“Mold is ubiquitous,” he points out. “It’s constantly in the air.” He argues the only time mold becomes a real problem is when there are significant amounts of humidity or water in a house, and there are other state disclosure requirements that do deal with that.

Goldstein says he’s been seeing mold problems in foreclosed homes since he got in the business 23 years ago.

“If there’s more foreclosures today … then obviously, numerically, you’re going to have more mold growing in more buildings because they’re closed up,” Goldstein says.

Essentially, he explains, “When buildings get closed up tight, those buildings rot.”

It’s sort of the hidden cancer of this recession’s real estate foreclosure game. Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker.

Which is why an awful lot of people don’t want to talk about how many foreclosed homes may be infested with mold. By some estimates, nearly half the foreclosed houses in the U.S. now have mold problems.

Thousands of foreclosures have gone through the courts since 2008, according to the Warren Group, a company that tracks foreclosure statistics across the nation. Officials say they have no real way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold.

“This is really a buyer-beware situation,” says Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices with the state Department of Consumer Protection. “So if you’re going to buy a foreclosed home, you’d better know what you’re doing.”

Experts say foreclosed homes sweltering through hot, sticky summers like this one can be perfect growing environments for common indoor molds with lovely-sounding titles like cladosporium, penicillium, aspergillus and alternaria. (Those are the semi-bearable ones. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994.)

When a bank forecloses on a home, it often shuts off the electricity and heat during warm weather months and basically seals the house shut. “If you do that in a hot humid summer,” says David Goldstein, vice president of Mystic Air Quality, a consulting outfit that tests buildings for high levels of mold, “you’ve created a greenhouse.”

All that’s needed for mold to flourish is a little moisture, from a pipe or toilet, rainwater or humid air seeping between the cracks, that summer sun, and a food source, which is sheet rock.

Mold is everywhere. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer.

“All molds, from a health safety point of view, are treated the same,” says Goldstein, who says indoor molds almost never cause anything close to fatal illnesses unless someone has respiratory or immune systems that are already compromised. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties.

“We deal with people every day with health problems from mold,” says Robert Weitz. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group.

Testing for mold can cost $500 or more, Weitz explains, which means paying a lot for what is often very bad news. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash.

“Nobody really likes me,” jokes Goldstein, whose company does the same sort of testing, “because I get hired to tell you something’s wrong.”

“Mold is ubiquitous,” he points out. “It’s constantly in the air.” He argues the only time mold becomes a real problem is when there are significant amounts of humidity or water in a house, and there are other state disclosure requirements that do deal with that.

Goldstein says he’s been seeing mold problems in foreclosed homes since he got in the business 23 years ago.

“If there’s more foreclosures today … then obviously, numerically, you’re going to have more mold growing in more buildings because they’re closed up,” Goldstein says.

Essentially, he explains, “When buildings get closed up tight, those buildings rot.”

It’s sort of the hidden cancer of this recession’s real estate foreclosure game. Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker.

Which is why an awful lot of people don’t want to talk about how many foreclosed homes may be infested with mold. By some estimates, nearly half the foreclosed houses in the U.S. now have mold problems.

Thousands of foreclosures have gone through the courts since 2008, according to the Warren Group, a company that tracks foreclosure statistics across the nation. Officials say they have no real way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold.

“This is really a buyer-beware situation,” says Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices with the state Department of Consumer Protection. “So if you’re going to buy a foreclosed home, you’d better know what you’re doing.”

Experts say foreclosed homes sweltering through hot, sticky summers like this one can be perfect growing environments for common indoor molds with lovely-sounding titles like cladosporium, penicillium, aspergillus and alternaria. (Those are the semi-bearable ones. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994.)

When a bank forecloses on a home, it often shuts off the electricity and heat during warm weather months and basically seals the house shut. “If you do that in a hot humid summer,” says David Goldstein, vice president of Mystic Air Quality, a consulting outfit that tests buildings for high levels of mold, “you’ve created a greenhouse.”

All that’s needed for mold to flourish is a little moisture, from a pipe or toilet, rainwater or humid air seeping between the cracks, that summer sun, and a food source, which is sheet rock.

Mold is everywhere. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer.

“All molds, from a health safety point of view, are treated the same,” says Goldstein, who says indoor molds almost never cause anything close to fatal illnesses unless someone has respiratory or immune systems that are already compromised. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties.

“We deal with people every day with health problems from mold,” says Robert Weitz. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group.

Testing for mold can cost $500 or more, Weitz explains, which means paying a lot for what is often very bad news. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash.

“Nobody really likes me,” jokes Goldstein, whose company does the same sort of testing, “because I get hired to tell you something’s wrong.”

“Mold is ubiquitous,” he points out. “It’s constantly in the air.” He argues the only time mold becomes a real problem is when there are significant amounts of humidity or water in a house, and there are other state disclosure requirements that do deal with that.

Goldstein says he’s been seeing mold problems in foreclosed homes since he got in the business 23 years ago.

“If there’s more foreclosures today … then obviously, numerically, you’re going to have more mold growing in more buildings because they’re closed up,” Goldstein says.

Essentially, he explains, “When buildings get closed up tight, those buildings rot.”

It’s sort of the hidden cancer of this recession’s real estate foreclosure game. Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker.

Which is why an awful lot of people don’t want to talk about how many foreclosed homes may be infested with mold. By some estimates, nearly half the foreclosed houses in the U.S. now have mold problems.

Thousands of foreclosures have gone through the courts since 2008, according to the Warren Group, a company that tracks foreclosure statistics across the nation. Officials say they have no real way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold.

“This is really a buyer-beware situation,” says Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices with the state Department of Consumer Protection. “So if you’re going to buy a foreclosed home, you’d better know what you’re doing.”

Experts say foreclosed homes sweltering through hot, sticky summers like this one can be perfect growing environments for common indoor molds with lovely-sounding titles like cladosporium, penicillium, aspergillus and alternaria. (Those are the semi-bearable ones. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994.)

When a bank forecloses on a home, it often shuts off the electricity and heat during warm weather months and basically seals the house shut. “If you do that in a hot humid summer,” says David Goldstein, vice president of Mystic Air Quality, a consulting outfit that tests buildings for high levels of mold, “you’ve created a greenhouse.”

All that’s needed for mold to flourish is a little moisture, from a pipe or toilet, rainwater or humid air seeping between the cracks, that summer sun, and a food source, which is sheet rock.

Mold is everywhere. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer.

“All molds, from a health safety point of view, are treated the same,” says Goldstein, who says indoor molds almost never cause anything close to fatal illnesses unless someone has respiratory or immune systems that are already compromised. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties.

“We deal with people every day with health problems from mold,” says Robert Weitz. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group.

Testing for mold can cost $500 or more, Weitz explains, which means paying a lot for what is often very bad news. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash.

“Nobody really likes me,” jokes Goldstein, whose company does the same sort of testing, “because I get hired to tell you something’s wrong.”

“Mold is ubiquitous,” he points out. “It’s constantly in the air.” He argues the only time mold becomes a real problem is when there are significant amounts of humidity or water in a house, and there are other state disclosure requirements that do deal with that.

Goldstein says he’s been seeing mold problems in foreclosed homes since he got in the business 23 years ago.

“If there’s more foreclosures today … then obviously, numerically, you’re going to have more mold growing in more buildings because they’re closed up,” Goldstein says.

Essentially, he explains, “When buildings get closed up tight, those buildings rot.”

It’s sort of the hidden cancer of this recession’s real estate foreclosure game. Embarrassing, smelly, uncomfortable at best, potentially hazardous if left untreated, and very often a dealbreaker.

Which is why an awful lot of people don’t want to talk about how many foreclosed homes may be infested with mold. By some estimates, nearly half the foreclosed houses in the U.S. now have mold problems.

Thousands of foreclosures have gone through the courts since 2008, according to the Warren Group, a company that tracks foreclosure statistics across the nation. Officials say they have no real way of knowing how many of those homes remain closed up and unsold, and how many are seriously infested with mold.

“This is really a buyer-beware situation,” says Richard E. Maloney, director of trade practices with the state Department of Consumer Protection. “So if you’re going to buy a foreclosed home, you’d better know what you’re doing.”

Experts say foreclosed homes sweltering through hot, sticky summers like this one can be perfect growing environments for common indoor molds with lovely-sounding titles like cladosporium, penicillium, aspergillus and alternaria. (Those are the semi-bearable ones. We’re not even talking about nasty stuff like “toxic black mold,” aka stachybotrys chartarum, a virulent strain some believe was responsible for the deaths of more than eight infants in Cleveland back in 1993 and 1994.)

When a bank forecloses on a home, it often shuts off the electricity and heat during warm weather months and basically seals the house shut. “If you do that in a hot humid summer,” says David Goldstein, vice president of Mystic Air Quality, a consulting outfit that tests buildings for high levels of mold, “you’ve created a greenhouse.”

All that’s needed for mold to flourish is a little moisture, from a pipe or toilet, rainwater or humid air seeping between the cracks, that summer sun, and a food source, which is sheet rock.

Mold is everywhere. Its spores can survive for 20 years, lying dormant as they wait for the right conditions. Mold infestations can subside as cold, dry weather arrives and wait for six or even nine months, then surge and spread with the return of moist, warm conditions in spring and summer.

“All molds, from a health safety point of view, are treated the same,” says Goldstein, who says indoor molds almost never cause anything close to fatal illnesses unless someone has respiratory or immune systems that are already compromised. But they can cause all kinds of other difficulties.

“We deal with people every day with health problems from mold,” says Robert Weitz. He’s a certified micro-bacterial investigator with RTK Environmental Group.

Testing for mold can cost $500 or more, Weitz explains, which means paying a lot for what is often very bad news. Pelli says ripping out and replacing mold-infested sheet rock and wood can cost thousands of dollars — money banks really hate paying on foreclosed homes that may have already cost them gobs of lost mortgage loan cash.

“Nobody really likes me,” jokes Goldstein, whose company does the same sort of testing, “because I get hired to tell you something’s wrong.”

“Mold is ubiquitous,” he points out. “It’s constantly in the air.” He argues the only time mold becomes a real problem is when there are significant amounts of humidity or water in a house, and there are other state disclosure requirements that do deal with that.

Goldstein says he’s been seeing mold problems in foreclosed homes since he got in the business 23 years ago.

“If there’s more foreclosures today … then obviously, numerically, you’re going to have more mold growing in more buildings because they’re closed up,” Goldstein says.

Essentially, he explains, “When buildings get closed up tight, those buildings rot.”

new program is offering financial assistance to first-time home buyers who are veterans or active-duty military members. The Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation, a nonprofit national organization, is offering the assistance through its Dream Makers Program.

Active duty personnel, veterans, retired members of the military, and employees of the U.S. Department of Defense and the Department of Homeland Security may be eligible for a grant up to $5,000 to use on down payments and closing costs when buying their first home. The grants can be applied to a mortgage from any financial institution.

“Members of the military often put off buying a home earlier in their careers because they’re moving around the country a lot,” says Kate Kohler, chief operating officer for the PenFed Foundation. “We want to make sure they have resources to add immediate equity into their home when they decide to buy.”

To view eligibility requirements, visit www.pentagonfoundation.org/dreammakers.

Source: “Veterans and Active Duty Can Get Financial Help When Buying Their First Home,” Pentagon Federal Credit Union Foundation (July 25, 2011)

Buying a home can be fun and a bit of a complex adventure .With all the changes in the market recently it can also be a very time-consuming and costly project.  Making you familiar with all aspects of the process and giving you all the best information and resources is where I can make buying a home a great experience.  

One of my specialties is representing the best interests of  buyers in Georgia and Aabama throughout the home buying process.  My goal is to save you time and money as well as make the experience more enjoyable and less stressful.

If you're like most peoevery step of the wayple, buying a home is the biggest investment you will ever make. So whether you're buying a starter home, your dream home or an investment property, why not take advantage of my 30+ years of experience as a local market expert to make the most informed decisions you can, ?