{"id":16964,"date":"2019-03-22T12:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-03-22T12:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/03\/22\/if-your-military-housing-is-contaminated-who-pays-your-mold-related-expenses\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T05:38:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T05:38:27","slug":"if-your-military-housing-is-contaminated-who-pays-your-mold-related-expenses","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/pay-benefits\/2019\/03\/22\/if-your-military-housing-is-contaminated-who-pays-your-mold-related-expenses\/","title":{"rendered":"If your military housing is contaminated, who pays your mold-related expenses?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

After six months of living with mold<\/a>, amid concerns about their children\u2019s ongoing medical issues that began after they moved into their house, Traci Lenz and her Air Force husband moved off base in January.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy home was not safe and has caused my family to suffer from ongoing illnesses, unnecessary expenses, and we were forced to move off base in order to protect our children,\u201d said Lenz, who lived in Harbor Bay at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lenz family and other military families<\/a> have felt compelled to move out of their homes in government or privatized housing<\/a> because of serious health issues and concerns that they attribute to the mold. In many cases, that\u2019s also an expensive financial burden, in addition to the health issues they believe have resulted from the mold.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lenz calculates that by the time everything is factored in, including moving costs and costs to replace mold-contaminated belongings, rental deposits, mold testing and medical expenses that weren\u2019t covered by insurance, they will have paid more than $33,000.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Who pays for mold damage to personal property in privatized housing? In this case \u2014 and a number of others \u2014 it appears it\u2019s the military family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Lenz family hasn\u2019t been reimbursed by Harbor Bay, the privatized housing company, for any of the costs, although Harbor Bay paid for their stay in temporary lodging while technicians replaced one duct and installed new vent covers. But when the family returned, they found mold, and moved out to a hotel at their own expense. Lenz said she and her husband, an Air Force master sergeant, asked Harbor Bay to pay for some of their expenses, including their costs to move off base, but the company declined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a number of cases, like the Lenz family\u2019s situation, the landlord doesn\u2019t agree that there is a mold problem, and contends it\u2019s safe to live there, so expenses aren\u2019t reimbursed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And because the mold was not the result of a major water intrusion, their USAA renter\u2019s insurance policy didn\u2019t cover the loss of their belongings, Lenz said. It appears that generally, renter\u2019s insurance doesn\u2019t pay for damage caused to belongings from mold, unless the mold results from a covered event, such as a burst pipe or a storm, for example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere have been families who have requested the insurance [reimbursement] with no luck,\u201d said Crystal Cornwall, a Marine wife who is founder of the nonprofit Safe Military Housing Initiative, formed in response to the many concerns she has heard from military families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For example, there is an exclusion in the Armed Forces Insurance Exchange Renters Insurance policy for \u201cdampness of atmosphere or extremes of temperature; rust; mold; wet or dry rot,\u201d said Mike Nixon, senior vice president of Armed Forces Insurance. \u201cIf mold damages the property with no other covered event occurring, the damage would be excluded\u201d from being covered, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere would be coverage if there was a covered loss like a pipe burst or storm event that damaged the home or apartment and allowed water in to damage the personal property items, and mold also developed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nixon said he hasn\u2019t heard of the issue of mold coming up as a stand-alone issue. \u201cIf the question comes up, it is usually in reference to mold after flooding or a pipe-burst-type event,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

USAA\u2019s position is similar. \u201cMost, but not all states provide some limited coverage for mold that results from a loss that is covered under the policy,\u201d said Tiffany Edmonds, a spokeswoman for USAA. \u201cThis applies to both homeowner\u2019s and renter\u2019s policies. We always encourage everyone to check with their insurance professional on specific aspects of their policies,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Service members should seek reimbursement, with help from their government housing office, according to DoD officials.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere are procedures in place through which service members can seek and potentially receive reimbursement for damaged household goods,\u201d said DoD spokeswoman Heather Babb. \u201cService members who experience damage to personal property in their homes, whether on or off-base, are encouraged to request assistance from their installation\u2019s government housing office.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her answer was in response to a question about whether a service member can file for reimbursement when household goods are damaged because of issues with their government housing or their privatized housing \u2014 such as mold, water leakage or mice infestation.<\/p>\n\n\n\t