[momto4babas]

Hello everyone. I am new here. Been online for days looking for info on mold and living in a section 8 house.. Story goes with info on me..
Im a devorced mother of four who is a cancer surviver but now disabled. I live in a section 8 home and live off of child sapport and ssi.. Please no condonning me.. I do what i can to survive.. But anyways story goes. We moved here 5 month ago.. My dream home.. 4 bedrooms 2 bathrooms on 2 achers of land.. Love it to death.. So much room.. Even have a basement. We redid our home and made it feel like home. Bad news is in Dec we had a major flood in the basement.. Didnt know about it cause its an outside basement meaning you have to go out side to the back of the house to get down to the basement.. Well we found the flood when we had a outage. Dont know how long it was there but took the land lord over a week for some one to come drain it. And they didnt clean up after it.. So now we have a musty gross smell coming in from our heat vents.. Nasty embarrising smell. To boot i was in the bathroom and was going to put stuff in our lil towel closet to find out that there is black mold in there.. Its dry wall.. Land lord told me to paint it with kiltz. I did .. But i must not of gotten it all cause now its growing again and it stinks. To also find out who ever redid the tub put instalation around the pipes that must have a lil leak cause now the instalation is black.. We are all sick here.. It started with me getting sick 2 weeks after we moved in. I have had a sinus infection along with ear infection for almost 5 months. Cronic cough to where i am on a manebulizer all the time. I been to the hospital 2 times and one time they wanted to keep me over night. I been to the reg docters over a dozen times and been on all kinds of antibacterial meds and cold meds and what not. Suffering head aches at least 4 times a week.. Sour throghts too. My kids are getting bad too.. My sons have bad colds and my girls are suffering headaches and bloody noses and so on. My land lord knows about the flood and the mold in the bathroom but isnt doing anything for them. She said to wait tell spring..I have done a mold test and am waiting on the results. I am on section 8 and so want to break the lease and go back to macomb county. I just dont know how to do it with being on section 8 and not loose that. Is there anyone that knows anything about this or how to go about this with out losing my houseing voucher.. But we are all tired of being sick and our health is more important then haveing enough room for all of us. And with the mold going thru the vents would i have to leave everything here that isnt appliances and tvs.. And does her home owners insurance able to cover our stuff. I have renters insurance too. I am just upset because i have all of our stuff that toke so long for us to save and get and what not. So i am looking for any info and help on this issue. Plz dont condone me for being on section 8 and what not. I am just asking help on a serious situation at hand.. Thank you so much for all your help.. Have a great week.

[zthatzmanz28]

Contact your FIA case worker. They should know what to do...
Best case is you move, get to break the lease and struggle to find another house..maybe not though...there are probably 100s of houses available in Michigan to rent..

B L E A C H the mold...only your insurance will pay for your stuff..landlord's insurance will pay to the landlord for her house.

OUR HOUSE WILL BE AVAILABLE IN AUGUST if you need a mold free residence...wayne county

[Cliffie]

You landlord is responsible for keeping the place in a livable condition, and your renter's insurance should cover any damage to your own things.

BTW, "condone" means forgive. Why would anyone forgive (or not forgive) you for being on section 8?

[jasony]

I agree that you need help, and there is some good advice in the above posts. The thing I'd like to add is that mold isn't the only culprit in a flood situation. There are sewage related bacteria and bacteria by-products (like endotoxins) that are of concern in those situations too. I've written on some of these at www.solutionsiec.com/water_damage.html if you'd like to read up on some of the indoor air quality related pollutants on a water damage. I guess my point is that you need to get someone involved now. Don't delay. These things do get worse, and from the sounds of it you already have some of the by-products of flood damage being circulated through your Heating, Ventilation, and Air-Conditioning (HVAC) system which adds to the exposure of potential contaminants.

The reason your Kilz didn't work is because by painting over things like you did you didn't remove the source of the problem; you only diluted it a bit with a potential food source for microorganisms (the Kilz). I would suggest (assuming your caseworker does get things moving for you so that the home is safe again) you get an indoor environmentalist in there to diagnose the conditions in the home (head to toe), then get your remediator in there to clean things up before having your indoor environmentalist come back and perform a post-remediation verification; that should help you get real help resolving the issue at hand.

[zthatzmanz28]

Originally Posted by jasony

I would suggest (assuming your caseworker does get things moving for you so that the home is safe again) you get an indoor environmentalist in there to diagnose the conditions in the home (head to toe), then get your remediator in there to clean things up before having your indoor environmentalist come back and perform a post-remediation verification; that should help you get real help resolving the issue at hand.

Great ideas, except you forgot to give her a GET A REMEDIATOR FOR FREE coupon. I highly doubt that she can pay and I am 99.9% sure FIA will not pay for ANYTHING...and the landlord sure isn't going to pay for someone to come in and condemn her house..

Let's not even talk about POST REMEDIATION VERIFICATION..what does that mean to the OP?

If her family is sick, she needs to get out and her case worker will be the one to break any lease as the state is responsible for paying the rent...without the cooperation of case management, she will lose her section 8 voucher and they will all be out on the streets of Sanilac County.

Trying to get anyone to pay remediation fees of what $2000-$5000 for a rental property is unrealistic.

[Bryan29]

condone means to exuse, or overlook

[jasony]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Great ideas, except you forgot to give her a GET A REMEDIATOR FOR FREE coupon. I highly doubt that she can pay and I am 99.9% sure FIA will not pay for ANYTHING...and the landlord sure isn't going to pay for someone to come in and condemn her house..

Let's not even talk about POST REMEDIATION VERIFICATION..what does that mean to the OP?

If her family is sick, she needs to get out and her case worker will be the one to break any lease as the state is responsible for paying the rent...without the cooperation of case management, she will lose her section 8 voucher and they will all be out on the streets of Sanilac County.

Trying to get anyone to pay remediation fees of what $2000-$5000 for a rental property is unrealistic.

Sorry to have offended you. I was simply pointing out the difference between the right way to handle the situation in relation to "cleaning it up" verses the activities that have taken place. I'm not in the business of assuming what someone will charge, can pay, nor will need to do without being the one to have to manage expenses. Back to the point - all of the information that I've given come from the current, legally-binding Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation. I suggest that anyone in a position like this where legal advise is needed get familiar with it. Professionals like the ones I suggested can be utilized in formulating a case against landlords, etc. by attorneys. Ask your lawyer about this Standard, local and state laws and regulations, and finding an expert witness to support your needs as applicable.

[Driller1]

Originally Posted by jasony

Sorry to have offended you. I was simply pointing out the difference between the right way to handle the situation in relation to "cleaning it up" verses the activities that have taken place. I'm not in the business of assuming what someone will charge, can pay, nor will need to do without being the one to have to manage expenses. Back to the point - all of the information that I've given come from the current, legally-binding Standard and Reference Guide for Professional Mold Remediation. I suggest that anyone in a position like this where legal advise is needed get familiar with it. Professionals like the ones I suggested can be utilized in formulating a case against landlords, etc. by attorneys. Ask your lawyer about this Standard, local and state laws and regulations, and finding an expert witness to support your needs as applicable.

Hello....This is a person on welfare. They are not going to hire any expert witness.

[kcam213]

Originally Posted by zthatzmanz28

Great ideas, except you forgot to give her a GET A REMEDIATOR FOR FREE coupon. I highly doubt that she can pay and I am 99.9% sure FIA will not pay for ANYTHING...and the landlord sure isn't going to pay for someone to come in and condemn her house..

Let's not even talk about POST REMEDIATION VERIFICATION..what does that mean to the OP?

If her family is sick, she needs to get out and her case worker will be the one to break any lease as the state is responsible for paying the rent...without the cooperation of case management, she will lose her section 8 voucher and they will all be out on the streets of Sanilac County.

Trying to get anyone to pay remediation fees of what $2000-$5000 for a rental property is unrealistic.

This is great advice. I am sure if you contact the social worker for the county, you will get some assistance in finding new housing for you and your children.

The health of you and your children is the most important thing.

You will not lose your section 8 eligibility if you go through the human services dept.

[trinkit]

First of all, to the posters that have explained the meaning of the word "condone": from the written message of the OP, she is not a good speller and I'm sure that she meant "condemn".

Secondly, to the OP: there is mold and there is "black mold". IF it is, indeed, black mold you will need professional help to clean it up -- at the landlord's expense. You will not be able to clean it up yourself. If it is bad enough, the house (along with EVERYTHING in it) will be condemned and destroyed. Case in point: Ted Nugent lost EVERYTHING when his house in Jackson was condemned because of black mold. They had to walk away with just the clothes on their back.

Also, to the OP: for the sake of not only your health but the health of your children, MOVE and worry about the legal ramifications later. Good luck.