Alaska Mold Law: Tenant Rights, Disclosure & Insurance
Does Alaska license mold work?
None. The Alaska Division of Corporations, Business and Professional Licensing (Dept. of Commerce, Community and Economic Development) administers 50+ occupational programs (construction contractors, home inspectors, geologists, underground storage tank workers, etc.) and has NO program for mold assessment, mold remediation, indoor air quality, or industrial hygiene. Mold work is done under a general construction contractor endorsement (AS 08.18) at most.
Habitability: what landlords must provide
Statutory; mold is NOT named. Alaska URLTA: the landlord shall 'make all repairs and do whatever is necessary to put and keep the premises in a fit and habitable condition,' keep common areas clean and safe, maintain electrical/plumbing/sanitary/heating/ventilating/AC facilities in good and safe working order, and supply running water, hot water and heat. AS 34.03.100(a)(1)–(7). Mold claims must be routed through this general fitness/habitability language or through the ventilation/plumbing duties. (AS 34.03.100(a)(1)–(3))
Notice and repair timeline
10 days to cure / 20 days to termination. AS 34.03.160(a): tenant delivers written notice specifying the breach and stating 'the rental agreement will terminate upon a date not less than 20 days after receipt of the notice if the breach is not remedied in 10 days.' For a repeat of substantially the same breach within six months, the tenant may terminate on at least 10 days' written notice. For essential services, AS 34.03.180(c) requires written notice but sets no fixed day count.
Tenant remedies
(1) Terminate after 10-day cure / 20-day notice, with return of prepaid rent and deposits — AS 34.03.160(a), (d). (2) Damages and injunctive relief for any noncompliance — AS 34.03.160(b). (3) Essential services (running water, hot water, heat, sanitary facilities, essential services): tenant may procure reasonable substitutes and 'deduct their actual and reasonable cost' from rent; OR recover damages based on the diminution in fair rental value; OR procure reasonable substitute housing, be excused from rent during the period, and recover the excess cost over rent — AS 34.03.180(a)(1)–(3), with written-notice precondition and no tenant-fault, AS 34.03.180(c). Election of remedies: cannot use AS 34.03.160 and AS 34.03.180 for the same breach — AS 34.03.180(b). There is NO general repair-and-deduct for non-essential defects and NO express rent-withholding statute; constructive eviction is common law (no statutory cite located).
Selling a home: mold disclosure
Yes — and mold is expressly named on the mandatory form. AS 34.70.010 requires the transferor of an interest in residential real property to deliver a completed written disclosure statement, on the form established under AS 34.70.050, BEFORE the transferee makes a written offer. The Alaska Real Estate Commission's 'State of Alaska Residential Real Property Transfer Disclosure Statement' asks, under Environmental Concerns, 'Are you aware of any mildew or mold issues affecting this property?' and also asks about water leaking into the home, water in the crawl space/basement, high water table, flood zone, flooding history, and drainage/grading problems. So known mold and water damage must be disclosed. (AS 34.70.010; AS 34.70.050; Alaska Real Estate Commission Residential Real Property Transfer Disclosure Statement (form rec4229))
Deadlines to bring a claim
Personal injury (mold exposure): 2 years — AS 09.10.070(a)(2) ('for personal injury or death, or injury to the rights of another not arising on contract'). Injury to PERSONAL property (contents): 2 years — AS 09.10.070(a)(3) ('for taking, detaining, or injuring personal property'). Injury to REAL property: 6 years — AS 09.10.050 ('Unless the action is commenced within six years, a person may not bring an action for waste or trespass upon real property').
Insurance treatment of mold
Alaska has the strongest DOI position of the five states. Alaska Division of Insurance Bulletin B 04-07 (May 20, 2004), 'Mold/Fungi Coverage,' states that 'Forms that attempt to limit or exclude coverage for mold damage resulting from an otherwise covered cause of loss violate this section of the Alaska Insurance Code,' relying on AS 21.36.212 (efficient proximate cause: 'an insurer may not deny a claim if a risk, hazard, or contingency insured against is the dominant cause of a loss and the denial occurs because an excluded risk, hazard, or contingency is also in a chain of causes but operates on a secondary basis'). The bulletin supplies approved sublimit/limitation language (three property options, two liability options), so capped mold coverage is permitted but outright exclusion of mold flowing from a covered peril is not. The Division's Consumer Guide to Homeowners Insurance does not address mold.