Federal Judge Limits Unlicensed Remediator's Recovery for Katrina

NEW ORLEANS - Louisiana law is clear that unlicensed mold remediators cannot enter into enforceable contracts and there is no evidence the licensing requirement was waived after Hurricane Katrina, a federal judge ruled on April 20. Tradewinds Environmental Restoration Inc. v. St. Tammany Park LLC, et al., No. 06-593 (E.D. La.).

In the second recent order in which the subject of licensing requirements was raised for companies engaged in cleanups after 2005's hurricanes, Judge Carl J. Barbier of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana said state law allows Tradewinds Environmental to recover "the actual cost of …