From John McBride
Dear All,
I too received both responses that were emailed to you referencing the recent position and action the NAA took regarding mold. There are many across our country that are suffering from mold toxicity due to the lack of correct action by property owners. Taking wrong steps to rectify the serious health hazard that mold presents can be just as dangerous as taking no action at all. Many times it is not only personal finances that is the property owners main motivating factor. Ignorance and neglect are also constants that I have seen all too much. Renters lives, possessions and even their pets are being lost and or ruined as a direct result of the extremely potent and vast array of toxins that molds produce and subsequently are being inhaled by renters who just wanted a safe and decent place to reside.
Based on this factual and can be well-documented information, perhaps it would be prudent for the NAA to encourage property owners to act preemptively rather then after the fact. Controlling moisture and making sure that the entire indoor environment is kept dry at all times would be a good start. Having HVAC systems checked a few times a year by qualified
individuals who are trained to test and inspect for indoor environmental hazards would be another. Of course if there is mold growth, then correct, rapid, and decisive action should be taken.
I guess my point is very simple. Why not educate your members with good science and recommend that taking proper actions will help to protect their properties and will help avoid future litigation. Oh yea, it will also help to protect and save lives, rather then destroy them. Like I stated earlier, all people really want is a safe and clean environment.
I see that you were already given the W.H.O.’s report on mold. To assist you further, I am sending a paper that was just published this month in Toxicology and Industrial Health. Dr. Jack Thrasher is one of this countries top authorities on this issue and he has also worked with several other distinguished credentialed individuals. This paper documents the full spectrum of health hazards created by damp and moist indoor environments. I strongly suggest you share this with your members. I can only hope you do not choose to trust the junk science that states mold does not pose health risks. Just remember that the same parties that wrote papers, testified at hearings, conducted false studies, and stated that tobacco did not pose serious health risks or even that it was not addictive are now the parties making fraudulent claims about mold. We know how untrue their conclusions and statements were regarding tobacco, so do not be party to them now. I seriously hope for the sake of all renters and for you as well, that you put yourself in the trust of honest, legitimate well-credentialed scientists who are not being paid to lie. One day you might find yourself in a moldy environment and if you choose to listen to junk science, you could end up suffering from very serious and painful chronic illness, as a direct result of your mold exposure and unwillingness to hear or place your self on the side of truth.
Sincerely yours,
John McBride
“MCS” Beacon Of Hope Foundation’s New Jersey State Representative & Toxic
Mold Activist/Consultant
New Jersey Legislative Initiative Against Toxic Mold
Moldleg333@live.com
732-894-3047
“World~Wide” Toxic Injury Awareness & Education! Please sign and forward to others:
http://toxicinjury.org/
The biocontaminants and complexity of damp indoor spaces: more than what meets the eyes – pdf
Jack D Thrasher and Sandra Crawley
From Cheryl Wisecup
To: paul@naahq.org; jeffreylee@naahq.org
Subject: Submission to the World Health Organization
Date: Thu, 19 Nov 2009 09:54:55 -0600
Good morning! I received a copy of the message that Sharon Kramer sent to you this morning. I thought you might like to have the attached information to assist you in your review of this important issue. Thank you.
The World Health Organization issued their 2009 report titled “Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality—Dampness and Mould.” I recently contacted the WHO and mentioned that their 2009 report was missing some publications relating to the health effects of molds and mycotoxins. They invited me to submit a list of publications that may have been omitted. The attached information was sent to the World Health Organization on October 7.
Please keep in mind as you review this information that there are thousands of documents available relating to the health effects of molds and mycotoxins. The attached lists are not intended to include every possible publication. I cross-checked my lists against the lists of references included in the 2009 WHO “Guidelines for Indoor Air Quality–Dampness and Mould” and the 2004 IOM report on “Damp Indoor Spaces and Health” to ensure I wasn’t duplicating their sources.
This information is being shared with hundreds of elected officials and medical organizations throughout the country. Please feel free to forward this information to others.
“If SEO and SEM (search engine optimization and search engine marketing) were the apartment industry buzzwords of 2009, the buzzword of 2010 will be SIM: social influence marketing, Thompson says. “That’s the next area of opportunity that we envision: better managing social influence,” he says. “Everything we learn is helping us redefine our 2010 marketing strategy to focus more directly on what we call online reputation management.”
Look Who’s Talking: Managing Your Online Reputation
Real-Life Story: How Ratings Sites Can Hurt a Manager’s Reputation
From: Sharon Kramer
To: paul@naahq.org, jeffreylee@naahq.org
Sent: 11/19/2009 6:09:43 A.M. Pacific Standard Time
Subj: Regarding “Look Who’s Talking: Managing Your Online Reputation “
Dear Mr. Bergeron and Mr. Lee,
I read your writing/blog regarding how property owners and managers could promote a positive image on line. You offer some good advice to managers that if followed, could help to create community good will which translates into more satisfied tenants, which translates into higher occupancy, which translates into higher profits.
I found these words of advice particularly worthy:
“A lot of people complain because of a lack of response they see through official channels. Be approachable and reachable, and that can reduce a lot of complaints,”
“When management takes a proactive view, or a set of actions that helps to establish their reputation outside of a confrontational stance, they tend to build a reputation that is respected,” Egan says. “So when people complain, the companies’ responses become much more meaningful rather than reactionary.”
It is my hope that NAA will follow their own advice to property managers. NAA has a huge problem. You submitted a fraudulent amicus curie brief in a litigation in Arizona that involves two infants deaths and a $25 million dollar insurance policy issued by Travelers. Then NAAHQ put it online that you submitted the brief.
NAA Files Amicus Brief in Mold Case
There are several science papers cited within the brief that I could reference and give the history of how they have stood up in court and in the media, but I am just going to reference to one: The US Chamber of Commerce “A Scientific View Of The Health Effects of Mold” 2003.
On page 9, NAA describes this paper as
In a report entitled, A Scientific View of the Health Effects of Mold, a panel of scientists, including toxicologists and industrial hygienists stated that years of intense study have failed to produce any causal between exposure to indoor mold and adverse health effects. U.S. Chamber of commerce, A Scientific View of the Health Effects of Mold (2003) at p. 64 and p. 65
There was no “panel of scientists” that authored this paper for the ILR. It cites false authorship of being authored by a physician. Yet, the physician has stated under oath that he had nothing to do with this paper and did not even know his name was on it. It has no scientific foundation to form the conclusion that all claims of illness from the toxins of mold are a result of “trial lawyers, media and junk science”.
The paper was actually authored by two owners of a litigation defense support corportation, VeriTox. One of the authors, Bruce Kelman, is an expert for the defense in the Arizona litigation. He comes to the mold issue circa 2000 from Big Tobacco.
He has stated under oath that the ILR paper was specifically written for judges. It was paid for by the Manhattan Institute think tank who wanted something written for judges.
If you have not been tracking the online reputation of the US Chamber, the organization that NAA is holding out as the guru of science over mold, you owe it to your members to do so. They are rightfully getting nailed left and right for deceits of claiming more members than they really have and their aggressive lobbying impacting everything from global warming to tort reform to the rape of females in the military. Not a great group to have your online reputation tied to at the moment.
NAA needs to take its own advice that it provides to its members. When faced with online complaints that are legitimate and extremely serious in origin, take action to correct the wrong.
NAA should retract their amicus submitted in the Arizona litigation. Not only is it presenting a fraudulent science paper by the US Chamber written expressly to influence judges, it is serving to damage the reputation of all members of NAA on a national level.
As I understand it, the plaintiff attorney in the litigation has submitted something to the court detailing and documenting the fraud within your amicus. If the courts do not take action, then the online bloggers that help those injured by mold will.
If the NAA is truly interested in doing what is right for its members and thus their tenants; and understands the impact of justified negative information on the net, then NAA should retract a now known fraudulent document they have submitted in a legal proceeding, immediately.
The true harm of the fraudulent NAA amicus brief is that it is misleading the members of NAA that mold does not harm. This leaves your members more vulnerable to lawsuits similar to the litigation in Arizona because it leaves their tenants in potential harms way from the NAA misleading their members as to the potential serious illnesses from the matter.
Thank you in advance for your proactive response to this message, It is my hope that NAA will heed its own advice and correct errors adverse to the interest of NAA members and adverse to the health and safety of NAA members’ tenants.
Sincerely,
Sharon Kramer
Disclosure: I have a degree in marketing. I have been tracking the deceit in science over the mold issue for about four years. I am currently in litigation with Bruce Kelman over this exact Chamber paper in Ca. I was the first to publicly write of the deceit of the paper online in 2005. The second time the matter was written of, was on the front page of the Wall Street Journal.
Dr. Kelman sued me for libel for the word “altered” claiming it was a false accusation of perjury. The case has been interesting to say the least.
“Changes in construction methods have caused US buildings to become perfect petri dishes for mold and bacteria to flourish when water is added. Instead of warning the public and teaching physicians that the buildings were causing illness; in 2003 the US Chamber of Commerce Institute for Legal Reform, a think-tank, and a workers comp physician trade organization mass marketed an unscientific nonsequitor to the courts to disclaim the adverse health effects to stave off liability for financial stakeholders of moldy buildings. Although publicly exposed many times over the years, the deceit lingers in US courts to this very day.” Sharon Noonan Kramer
Information on Riverstone Residential knowingly exposing tenants to extreme amounts of mold toxins at Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments in Baton Rouge, Louisiana
Toxic Mold Infested Jefferson Lakes Apartments managed by Riverstone Residential
Katy's Exposure 