Truth about mold

04/09/2026

The bank will probably sell my house soon. I have tried to find the right investor without success so far. This is my last asset, but that is not the core of my motivation.

My biggest concern is that without the right investor the minimum work to make the interior look good will be done and the house will not be environmentally safe.

When I asked for guidance on if I should just sell it the answer was no. So I have put it in higher hands.

04/05/2026

What can your local Environmental Health office do about mold? Nothing. I reached out to my local Environmental Health office with questions on legal obligations of landlords, realtors, home sellers, house flippers, etc. There is a person designated to take theses types of calls, but it seems like when it comes to taking action there is nothing he can do.

Environmental Health told me there are no laws to protect tenants, or homebuyers from living in or purchasing a house, aparment, etc, that may be full of mold. Mold testing is not even required during the home inspection.

As a single parent I obtained an FHA loan, which means my home inspection was done by HUD. I felt good about this because HUD is supposed to have the strictest guidelines for inspection.

The reality is they only do visual inspections for leaks. Looking back there were visible signs of previous water problems in the house despite the lack of current leaks.

NOTE: No Federal, State of New Mexico or City codes exist defining or regulating the limits of mold. Therefore, the City’s assistance with mold problems is limited.

04/03/2026

What can your local Code Enforcement office do about mold? Nothing. I reached out to my local Code Enforcement office when I was living in the apartment with toxic mold, and guess what their hands are tied. The apartment I lived in had mold behind the wall and because I was so sensitive to mold at that point I knew it was there. I asked several times for the rental agency to do mold testing and they refused to do it. I eventually paid for the air quality test myself.

Code Enforcement told me that unless the leak was visible they could not enter. The leak was from the tub of the bathroom upstairs going down behind my shower stall. Which appeared as little spots of water along the edge of my shower stall, and eventually moisure in the grout near the edge of the tub.

Code Enforcement is not allowed to use any tools other than their eyes. They cannot do air quality tests, they cannot use a thermal camera.

And they can do nothing about mold except refer you to Environmental Health.

I searched for mold in the Uniform Housing Code online and found nothing. I searched for leaks and found only one Article that applies.

https://codelibrary.amlegal.com/codes/albuquerque/latest/albuquerque_nm/0-0-0-133347

Learn more about how this division enforces the zoning and housing codes.

04/03/2026

What is the government doing about this public health issue? Not much. Studies have been done, reports have been written, but no progress for decades. Why? Because they are hung up on establishing safe indoor mold levels. The truth is there will never be a "safe" level. We are all genetically different, some people are allergic to peanuts, some are not. Some people have an immune system that can recognize mold and clean it from the body, some do not.

In 2008 the Government Accountability Office recommended better coordination of efforts by the EPA but public awareness is still sadly lacking on this public health hazard.

https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-08-980 #:~:text=Highlights,Environmental%20Protection%20Agency

04/03/2026

What is my story? I bought a house in 2008, the American Dream right? Not for me. It has turned into my nightmare. Within the first 15 months I lived there I had bronchitis and saw my doctor for unusual fatigue. But she found no cause for it. From there my health slowly declined.

In 2020, after a case of mild COVID and then Shingles three months later my immune system finally quit and I ended up on Social Security Disability.

Ironically during the pandemic lockdown the leak behind my bathroom wall finally broke through under the sink.

After my disability was approved I moved out of my house to an apartment where I was further exposed to Toxic Mold. I created this page to share what I have learned along the way.

Once upon a time I had a professional career. I don't know what the future holds yet.

I am an experienced professional with a demonstrated history of working in the government… · Experience: TEKsystems · Education: New Mexico State University · Location: Albuquerque · 76 connections on LinkedIn. View Jessie Jobs’ profile on LinkedIn, a professional community of 1 billion memb...

04/03/2026

What does the average doctor or medical practitioner know about mold exposure? Nothing. To find a doctor with any remote knowledge within our existing healthcare system you have to go to Infectious Disease. It could takes years to get there, or not at. Meanwhile your diagnosis of conditions keep piling up while you become more and more chronically ill. To begin to find answers we need to seek out a Functional Medicine, Integrative Medicine, or Environmental Health practitioner. But guess what? We are not encouraged to seek this kind of care and very little will be covered by your health insurance. Dr. Shoemaker has been studying this condition since the mid 1990's and eventually named it Chronic Inflammatory Response Syndrome, which still has not been accepted as a medical condition.

Pharmacist Jay Gill interviews Jacki Meinhardt, DNP of the Amen Clinic in Reston, Virginia. Jacki is an expert when it comes to CIRS or mold illness. This mu...

04/03/2026

Watch this episode of Forensic Files on how this community of infants were affected by mold with multiple fatalities before mold was found as the cause. This was 1994 and there are still no laws to protect tenants that require landlords to follow proper remediation protocols after a flood, to perform regular air quality tests, or protect their tenants in any way from mold exposure.

An infant was rushed to the emergency room with serious breathing problems. Within months, there were more than 30 cases. Doctors searched frantically for th...

04/03/2026

What happens when you have a long term leak behind the wall that is not visible? Watch this Forensic Files episode on how it affected this family. This episode was originally aired in 2002 and home owners insurance will still not cover this type of damage without a fight, and maybe not even then. They do not require regular air quality tests and hold the position that mold growth is the Homeowner responsibility.

The 3-year-old son of parents in Dripping Springs, Texas develops a respiratory condition. Then the father develops signs of Alzheimer's disease, and an inve...