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I found a mold in FL rental place - where the AC pipe drips outside, the inside floor/wall are wet and stained with mildew. I can smell it too. Unfortunately, we just moved in and my husband is reluctant in believing there is any danger (a big fine for lease break is not helping). He just keeps repeating "it's not wet, there is no mold" just because it doesn't look too bad yet. All my words that if you can't see it doesn't mean it's not there if it's mildew are ignored. We have 8 months and 3 years old and the landlord won't fix anything, so I want to move. We also started being sick (cold, headache, fever, runny and stuffed nose) soon after move-in - basically non-stop. I think it's the mold symptoms. Please drop links for my husband to read to understand about mildew issue and be on my side, not against me. I want to avoid pricey testing and going to the doctor for a diagnosis if possible. Thank you.
What you do is contact the landlord in writing about it.
You may want to go to these websites and look up your rights too! There are more than just these. Good Luck.
You may want to have a home inspection done and it could be a couple hundred dollars. But first go to the links and see what your rights are as a tenant in Florida.
My father, who is in his 80's, lived in an apartment that had mold in it. He was always ill. The doctor found mold spores in his ears, in his throat, and then he had a gall bladder attack so bad that he had to have surgery. Now, there was no proof that the mold could actually cause my Dad's gall bladder to go bad, but my family took no more chances. He is now living with my sister and her husband, and because they have no mold, he is feeling 100% better.
Miborn, thank you for posting the links for OP.
The mold was so bad that all of his furniture had to be washed with bleach, and a lot of his belongings just had to be thrown out. Mold is nasty and if you are exposed to it, get informed what you can do about it. I wish you all the luck.
Any links/horror stories about mildew/mold unseen but present to help convince the husband who is still not willing to admit there is a problem?
His issues are: penalty for breaking the lease; finding new place; packing and moving. My issue is: family health.
I can smell when there is mold in the house also. If you can smell it believe that it is there, once he see's the increase in medical bills maybe he will believe you. I also think looking into your rights is a wonderful suggestion, mold is a reason to break the lease. Have an inspection, might be worth the money you spend. But before doing anything I would contact the landlord, maybe he is just unaware of the problem. PS when contacting a landlord about a possible problem ALWAYS do so in writing with proof he received it (ie certified mail).
I'll go against the grain here and suggest that your husband might be right, that the area isn't yet a serious problem. FWIW, the mold you may be smelling could very well be coming from other sources. Have you had the air conditioner opened up enough to where you can see the condensing coils and pans? If filters are not changed properly, dirt can build up especially in the pan and a moldy smell be present. If the pan overflows, mold can occur, if there is a leak or blockage in the drain line, mold can occur.
In our Florida house I had to spray the coil with Physan 20 or other anti-mold agent and flush the pan and drain hose to prevent problems, using a wet vac to suck all the "snot" from the drain hose.
The damp area near the drain outlet should be noted to the landlord, and that area of the wallboard replaced and properly sealed, preferably by the landlord at his expense, but a $20 sheet of wet area drywall (not the regular stuff), $5 worth of spackle, and $10 worth of paint is a lot cheaper than moving and taking a chance on finding mold in the new place as well. Once the new wall is up, there are many ways to seal out any mold that might return.
I point this out because mold IS an issue in Florida. Running away from a place with a minor correctable problem is excessive. Getting it fixed is not.
A friend of mine lived in a small home in Montana. While in this house, she had 2 of her children. They came straight home from the hospital to this house as newborns. There was mold in the wall in the nursery from an improperly installed window that leaked. The crib was placed against this wall. By the time that any mold was actually visible on the interior of the wall, they had been living there for 2 years. Her two oldest children (mentioned above) are 12 and 13 years old. The 13 year old has scars in his lungs, uses 3 different kinds of inhalers, a nebulizer and wears a CPAP at night to force his lungs to inflate properly. He almost died as a toddler when the mold took hold in his lungs and caused cysts. These had to be surgically removed. The 12 year old is a mildly better case. She does not have the extensive lung damage, but does use an inhaler and has breathing problems. Their two youngest sisters (born after they vacated the house) do not have any lung issues.
Clearly, this is a worst-case senario. I do know that the house was torn down and many precautions were taken during the destruction process.
A friend of mine lived in a small home in Montana. While in this house, she had 2 of her children. They came straight home from the hospital to this house as newborns. There was mold in the wall in the nursery from an improperly installed window that leaked. The crib was placed against this wall. By the time that any mold was actually visible on the interior of the wall, they had been living there for 2 years. Her two oldest children (mentioned above) are 12 and 13 years old. The 13 year old has scars in his lungs, uses 3 different kinds of inhalers, a nebulizer and wears a CPAP at night to force his lungs to inflate properly. He almost died as a toddler when the mold took hold in his lungs and caused cysts. These had to be surgically removed. The 12 year old is a mildly better case. She does not have the extensive lung damage, but does use an inhaler and has breathing problems. Their two youngest sisters (born after they vacated the house) do not have any lung issues.
Clearly, this is a worst-case senario. I do know that the house was torn down and many precautions were taken during the destruction process.
I dont think is is worse case as children are more susceptible to things and need a lesser exposure to things than adults to cause damage.
Follow up from OP: after multiple nagging and threats we got to have the mold issue resolved. The leaky pipes were causing the water to accumulate behind the wall. The repairman told me that I saved the homeowner thousands of dollars in future repairs if the mold issue weren't addressed. Hey, I didn't even get a thanks from the property manager guy
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