Fungus Amongus
More and more Houston-area homes are being overtaken by dangerous mold, and this time it’s in Katy, Texas. Highland Homes won’t do the right thing. There’s a Fungus Amongus.
FUNGUS AMONG US
There is a fungus among us, and it’s not funny. If you’ve watched us for years, you know we are investigating complaints about mold in brand new homes. Another home builder has gotten our attention. Highland Homes. They don’t want to talk to us, but maybe they’ll watch this.
It’s a home invasion in Katy, Texas.
“It’s gut wrenching. It’s disheartening, and it’s purely robbing us of not just our peace but our happiness,” says homeowner Joe Francisco.
These are not burglars. These invaders are spores. It’s toxic mold. It’s eating away at this home in Cane Island.
“This is the biggest purchase you ever make. It’s supposed to keep you safe. And if something’s wrong, who fixes it? The person who built it, in my opinion,” says wife Nikki Francisco.
No kidding. Joe and Nikki Francisco signed a contract with Highland Homes four years ago, for a brand-new house worth over half a million dollars.
“We dreamed about it. We prayed for it. We worked hard for it,” Joe says.
It was a dream come true for the Francisco family.
“The house, the frame is covered with Bible verses to watch over our home, to watch over our future family, and to watch over us. This is everything we had hoped for,” says Mr. Francisco.
Then came Christmas of 2024. Instead of Santa shimmying down the chimney with presents, the Franciscos got a gift of a different kind, one that keeps growing.
“I went upstairs to use the restroom, and I noticed mold across the ceiling up there,” Nikki recalls about her home.
That would mark the beginning – not of Star Wars, but of spore wars. At every turn, they found more mold around the exhaust vents, the ceilings, creeping up through the floors. Even evidence of mold in their three-year-old’s bedroom.
“And that’s the scariest part of this. We see mold in one or two places in our bathroom, but we know that this entire house is filled with it. That’s where the anxiety comes in,” says Joe.
The Franciscos first tried to tell the company responsible for building the house, Highland Homes.
“What have they done to try to help you?” asks interviewer Peyton Heussner to the homeowner couple.
“They told us that we were out of warranty,” Nikki responds.
“It was actually the first thing out of their mouth,” Joe adds.
Out of warranty by just three months. Don’t you just love that stuff?
“They go out, they build these homes, which are riddled with failures and faults, and then refuse to take accountability for their own poor performances,” says Joe Francisco.
So, Joe and Nikki got to work building their legal case against the builder. They bring in an expert, a woman we’ve come to know over the years for exposing shoddy building.
“My name is Linda Lauver. I am the owner and operator of the AQ Testing Services LLC. We are licensed mold assessment consultants,” states Linda in her interview with us.
And what Linda found was shocking.
“Tell me just how bad the mold problem actually is, in the Francisco household,” asks interviewer Peyton Heussner.
“It’s very bad,” states Linda.
As we look at what charts have been provided, even at 10,000 spores, the environment is considered by experts extremely hazardous. The Franciscos’ house, it has fungus all among us.
“230,000 spores in the hallway wall, common to the bathroom, also in that bedroom. So, 172,000 spores in another wall there. So, yeah, there are very high levels of mold in this house,” Linda recalls to us.
So, after her visit, Linda issued a letter deeming the house uninhabitable.
“They told us the house is not inhabitable. They had recommended that we move out,” Linda Francisco recalls.
These samples provided to us were taken two years ago, meaning the condition is likely even worse now.
A report from last year shows this closet in their bedroom upstairs has over a million spores.
“And the conditions that caused this mold growth are continuing. It has to do with high humidity in the AC system,” Linda Lauver explains.
The Franciscos hired five different companies to come in and check their home.
“You have to get to the root of the cause. You must have experts out here to help you find the solution.” – Nikki says.
A construction defect consultant, an HVAC professional, a building science consultant from Bluegill Energy, a floor inspector, even roof inspectors, have all found problems with the way this Highland home had been built. Such as an AC drip pan too small, misaligned insulation, and insufficient attic ventilation. You hear that a lot in these mold cases.
“So, when those things are not done properly, the hot attic air penetrates those walls, and it causes condensation on the back of the drywall. And the longer that condition exists, the worse it gets,” explains Linda.
We have a history with Highland Homes. Do you remember the “horror home?”
It’s even worse than a nightmare,” exclaims homeowner Gregory Gran.
Gregory Gran came to us after mold and termites were eating away at his own house. Guess what? That house, right around the corner from the Franciscos, which is also built by Highland Holmes.
“How can you say trustful? Is that really a trustful builder?” asks Gregory.
Highland Homes also refused to see their mold and termite problem.
“We represent, at any given time, a number of homeowners in this area that have Highland Homes. We get a lot of calls about that builder,’ explains attorney T. Ernest Freeman.
And they still won’t call us back to answer our questions about their faulty homes. So, I assume that is the reason why the Franciscos lawyered up in the first place. They hired mold legal expert Ernest Freeman to sue Highland Homes.
“We’re not going to back down from this. We’re going to see this process through to make sure that we, us, our family are taken care of. That ultimately Highland is held accountable for the situation that they put us in,” says Highland Homeowner Joe Francisco.
The lawsuit filed in April says, “experts concluded that moisture and excessive humidity resulted in mold contamination in the home caused by construction defects, resulting from Highlands’ failure to design and build the home properly.” Boy, do we hear that a lot about Houston area home builders.
“With these unethical practices, these builders that that cut corners, and hire cheap labor, they don’t properly manage the labor or take accountability for what they’re putting these families through, and knowingly exposing them to,” exclaims Mr. Francisco.
The lawsuit states that the cost of repairing and remediating the Franciscos home is $435,000. But the Francisco’s are asking for over $600,000 because of all the extra cost they have had to pay for this moldy mess.
Highland Homes denies there’s any construction defects, or any systemic mold issues. But outside of court, they’ve offered to settle. At first, for $35,000.
“You know the offer that they gave – it’s a slap in the face,” says Peyton Heussner.
“It’s an insult. This is a massive home builder. They’ve built out a lot of our community. They’re building right next door to us. It’s an insult. It doesn’t even cover the groundwork that we had to do, to present them with this case. When it comes to the actual fix of the home, it’s about 1/6 of what’s wrong with this house. It doesn’t address the root cause issues. It doesn’t fix the financial burden. It is a complete utter disrespect – slap in the face,” Joe Francisco explains to us.
In August, Highland sent another settlement. This time for $104,000 in lieu of repairing the home. The Franciscos said no.
“It almost feels like the process is drawn out to bankrupt the family. When you’re finally just raising a white flag, like, ‘I’m out of money. I can’t do it anymore.’ We’ve drained our savings. We’ve drained everything. We have debt. We have to just be done with it and move on. That’s what it feels like the process is,” says Mrs. Francisco.
Their original contract with Highland Homes includes that dreaded arbitration clause. Meaning, they must try to work out this situation before going to the judge. That takes not months, but years.
“This is holding back our retirement. It’s adding years to our career. It’s impacting our dreams and our goals that we had laid out moving into this home. I will have to work another three or four years, because we have not been able to invest retirement funds. We’ve had to hold cash, not knowing what’s going to happen with our house,” Joe expresses.
In the meantime, the Franciscos have set up these air filters around their home. But with two young daughters, a one- and three-year-old, and constantly inhaling what they believe is toxic mold, the time is ticking for the Franciscos to find the real answer.
“It’s robbing us of these years. The stress, the anxiety, and the situation that they have put us in,” says Joe.
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