It's happened to many Realtors. You go on a listing appointment, or, you are a accompanying a buyer to a showing, and a musty, damp or moldy smell hits your nostrils. Could this house have mold?

You just ran into a major hurdle to getting this home sold. If you are the seller's agent, you must ask if there has been any water damage in the home. Then you must inform the seller of all the problems associated with mold: that water damage must be disclosed, that the buyer could find mold on inspection, or that the home may be stigmatized by some insurers who may insist on a mold inspection before insuring the home for the new buyer.

If you are the buyer's agent, you must insist that your buyer get a mold inspection before buying the home.

Saving the sale

There are two major hurdles with any mold problem - remediation by a qualified professional and getting the home insured, whether or not there has been a mold problem.

"What has happened in last few years is insurance companies were told by court cases that they covered mold under homeowners' policies," says Kyle Dotson, CIH, CSP, DEE, "so industrial hygienists have been employed to help investigate these claims and if there is enough mold to put together a work plan to clean it up in an appropriate manner. That's what we've been doing."

Dotson is a certified industrial hygienist, which requires five years' experience and a CPA - tough exam that most people fail the first time. The certification is provided by the American Board of Industrial Hygiene, a professional association of about 12,000 members. Dotson sits on the board of this august body, and from his perch, he has unique insights into the issue du jour of mold.

Dotson has pointed out two trends. The first is that mold remediation is becoming a popular new business and that Realtors as well as consumers need to watch out.

"There is a lucrative new field called mold consulting," says Dotson, "and some are qualified, some people are incompetent, and some are in-between."

Right now, almost anyone can hang out a shingle and call himself a mold consultant, but that may not fly for long. Some states have legislation pending that will license mold inspectors. "Texas and California are on the leading edge," says Dotson.

Ironically, while insurers might insist on mold inspections, they have few guidelines as to what constitutes a proper mold inspection, or who should make them, which may encourage some buyers or sellers to get as cheap an inspection as possible.

"Except now the shysters are charging what the true professionals charge," warns Dotson. "so you won't save any money. Since we now have EPA guidelines for remediation, I think it will become more mainstream, and a commodity, which means that it will become cheaper to do mold inspections and a normal part of a construction project."

He hopes that Realtors and consumers will choose to work with certified industrial hygienists. A mold inspection for home purchase by a certified industrial hygienist should run about $600 to $3000, he says. "The lower end of that is what is appropriate for a real estate transaction."

Getting a mold inspection could well be worth the client's while because the second trend is that insurers are going to make it more difficult for homeowners to get mold coverage.

"We are now getting requests from homeowners that are telling us their insurance company requires a mold inspection before they will write the homeowner's insurance for the buyer," he says. " Allstate in Texas is requiring an inspection for certain situations, along with other companies."

Accountability is stepping up for all parties in the real estate transaction. State governments are getting into the act, mostly to attract insurers back to areas desperate for homeowners' coverage. Texas and California now have a mold check box on standard seller's disclosure forms, which raises liability for Realtors.

"Most people want to stick their heads in the sand," says Dotson, "so the seller may not want to bring up a problem. It's buyer beware, but it's also Realtor beware."