A NewsChannel 3 investigation into moldy military housing first brought the dangers to light.
If mold is not cleaned up right the first time, families can get sick in their own homes.
But now, a new Virginia law that took effect over the weekend is making it harder for homeowners to find the right experts to help them.
A leaky roof, water damaged windows and wet drywall can all lead to mold problems.
And for the past year, mold inspectors and mold remediators, the professionals you turn to for help, have all been licensed by the state of Virginia.
The law was passed in 2009 to make sure that everyone who called themselves an expert in the field had some sort of education and training behind them.
But over the weekend, the entire mold remediation and inspector licensing program ended at the hands of Governor McDonnell in his mission to streamline state operations.
His commission on government reform and restructuring put the recommendation forward late last year. Everyone on the 31-member board voted to stop the licensing program.
Their reasoning? They say the environmental protection agency does not see a need to regulate mold remediation nationally, so Virginia was over-regulating where the EPA did not and they wanted to get rid of what they called "a barrier to business."
Both the House of Delegates and the Senate then passed their own versions of the bill during the 2012 general assembly.
The national organization of remediators and mold inspectors, where many in the field get their training, released this statement, saying "in our humble opinion, this is a sad day for the commonwealth of Virginia. Though we certainly understand the concerns about how mold licensing affects business, more important to us is how the lack of licensing affects the public."
Now it’s up to the consumer to decide which mold remediation companies will do the job right, and which ones are only out to scam them.
