Course of Action w/Landlord over Toxic Mold?

[satman40]

These guys will blow your mold cases out the door, not worth the $6,000.00 and hour for the lab fees..
Quest will do it if you pay up front...

HD kits cost $45.00 for an evaluation. adn will not stand up in court..
.

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[WorkinThruIt]

Landlord and I did mold test kits ($10 at Home Depot) and the petrie dishes are getting dark but no fungus yet...they say wait 72 hours. These things are a joke anyway but we're doing them just a a starting point. I don't know if they'll actually re-do the bathroom but there are definitely mold colonies in there (UGH) Hey listen...it happens. We'll see what they're willing to do.

[WorkinThruIt]

Also, I went to see an superb doctor today who really knew his stuff...Harvard MPH Environmental & Occupation Specialist at a major hospital here. He sits on the state board of E&O Health too...has dealt with many mold cases and knows what's real and what isn't...he could see that I'm we aware of the difference between paranoia and unreasonableness & what my experience really was.

After listening to my story & symptoms and testing me he said this:

- The body has an amazing ability to heal itself, esp given I was only exposed for 3 weeks and my symptoms are getting better
- Do NOT go down the Multiple Chemical Sensitivity train...you'll spend ridiculous amounts of money and time thinking about it.
- You WERE exposed and every time you are exposed again you will have less a tolerance to being exposed.
- You cannot live in this new place if it has any colonies of mold because your body will not fully heal which it needs to do now.
- If they remediate, you have to leave while they do it and make sure it's done by a certified remediator who has the proper equipment and cleans all spores that will be released during the remediation.

[ragingtulip]

Dear OP, and others who are similarly affected,

How are things now? (Almost a year later.)

I am in a similar situation that you were: in house with mold issues for a short time, and dealing with the potential cross-contamination of mold spores (not mold damage) once I move to a new place. Currently, all my things are in storage while I figure out what to do.

I am curious how things ended up for you? Did you solve your cross-contamination issues when moving to a new place?

Best wishes.

[tworent]

Originally Posted by WorkinThruIt

I posted here before about my having moved into an apartment with what I believe was toxic mold in the bathroom, walls, and gosh knows where else. It was invisible mold which is the most dangerous. I have become sick and cannot get rid of the spores, which I transported with me when I moved to a new place. Even when I pass gas, there's the awful toxic smell, the "sweet smell" of the VOCs (poisons) that mold gives off. I have lost almost everything (had to throw out everything but glass and very hard surfaced things.) It is devastating.

I don't know if I can go after the former landlord. I have pictures of ceiling leaks that were badly patched and of the bathroom where caulking covered up dark spots on tile grout. I believe that because I didn't have someone test it while I was there, I'll have to take the loss.

Here's my question: If you can believe it, I've moved into yet ANOTHER apt with the same issue. Also well-hidden. I continue to be sick and feel I have no safe place to be. I have cross-contaminated into my car and spent $800 cleaning it and I can't use it until my system and home are free of toxins as I will infect the car again. I have had a rental car for 5 days and it is already infected. It is a world of showering, laundry HEPA vacuuming, and microbicidal cleaning.

But THIS time I have asked this new landlord to either remodel the bathroom (the sweet smell of VOCs is more present everytime I shower. It's time - it's old and I see white crystal-like stuff behind vanity and on toilet pipes. The place has improper ventilation and is decades old.) The RE Mgmt company doesn't respond to much (they said they would when they "sold" me on the apt.)

What should my next course of action be about this present situation? I can't move again - I'm too exhausted. I've even lost my bed from the last place and am sleeping on a blow-up mattress. I need to have safe housing.

Thanks.

An old post but with this quote of yours "which I transported with me when I moved to a new place" as your new landlord I would be suing you to clean my house. Now that you told the world it is your fault there in the new house it should be easy

[WorkinThruIt]

Dear RagingTulip,
I'm glad you asked.
If you are getting by now without the things you have in storage, you might consider throwing everything out except glass and metal. I know this is a hard pill to swallow but I did it.

I had beautiful things from an entire lifetime but I trusted God. It was painful, yes. But I accepted they were just things in the end and I started over. Everything is in my heart and what is important is I have my health (well, sort of.)

There are instructions for remediating (cleaning) things that are salvageable on the Internet if you do some Googling.

Welcome to the land of mold spore remediation. Many of us have done it before you; you are not alone.

However: do not try to save anything that is in any way, shape or form pourous. Spores on one item can multiply. Toss leather, anything organic (paper), clothes, shoes, everything that isn't glass or metal.

Trust me on this. I spent thousands of dollars and exhausted myself physically and mentally spending months trying to clean and wipe and wash items. It sucked. I got sicker from being around it.

I bought HEPA vacs and air purifiers (THEY DONT WORK.) spores are much smaller - I don't care what the manufacturer claim about filters etc is on these products.

I wished and hoped against everything I read online that I could save my precious belongings and the result was exhaustion and frustration. I lived in a world of fear and distrust of my own surroundings.

I am so sorry you have to deal with this. But I will tell you that I found later on that there is a reason for everything - if we just know how to look for it.

Regardless of what some others will tell you, go with your gut - even against your strongest hopes. Mold is not something to mess around with. I have all kinds of health issues now from it but am working my way back to healing.

Cut your losses because with every exposure you make yourself less and less able to tolerate new cars, carpets, sitting in meetings or at work around anyone with cologne or perfume, unable to even tolerate a new mattress or new clothes or laundry detergents with scents...stay as healthy as you are NOW, let go of the things, never look back and know you made an excellent judgment call.

My prayers are with you. You'll be fine. Have gratitude for the real things.

[ragingtulip]

OP,

I'm sorry for what you went through.

Am I correct in reading you were only exposed for three weeks? Does that mean you lived in this place for 3 weeks? Had you just moved in, unpacked boxes, set things up?

I'm told that washing clothes is sufficient...but it sounds like it was not enough in your case?

Most of my things were still in closed boxes, but not all. Since mold spores depend on gravity and air currents to move around, I don't think much if anything can "sneak into" my boxes, even if not tightly taped.

At some point though, I won't know which was boxes were which, if they had been opened and in which room. I'm really hoping to avoid getting rid of things, though cleaning everything sounds horribly arduous as it is. Also, I can't get rid of paper such as bills, taxes, medical records etc.

Unfortunately, I cannot get by without the things in storage. I am borrowing other people's items temporarily and do not have money to replace them. That would be prohibitively expensive.

Did you get the mold tested in that first rental of yours? If so, which method did you use? Did they give you the types of mold and quantities of mold? It is very expensive to hire someone and I'm also told that info isn't really useful, if you already know you have mold. I've also been told the Home Depot DIY kits are not useful.

Did you keep anything?

Again, I'm sorry for what you went through.

Thanks!

[WorkinThruIt]

Hi again.
I lived in the apartment for three weeks. I had unpacked everything and put things in their place when I realized there was mold in the apartment.
I packed everything up and moved it to another apartment and began an exhausting remediation process which didn't work.
Boxes are organic. They are made of paper. Maybe things packed tightly in the middle of the boxes won't be affected (maybe.)
Washing clothes doesn't work. I did it over and over using everything known to mankind. I had to toss them in the end. I spent about $7000 on the remediation process, all to no avail.

This was in a small apartment (about 650 sq feet) and there were three medium-sized rooms plus a bathroom. There was indoor hidden wall mold in at least the bathroom and the spores travelled throughout the air in every room.

You can xerox important papers and toss the old ones as you do it (I went to Staples.) I brought hand sanitizer with me.

Home Depot kits etc are for kids. It costs about $400-$700 to get an expert in. I wish to God I had brought the City into this apartment but I didn't. There are laws you can look up to get help from various local/state agencies - do it before you leave!! You will need it as recourse. Also, never again be without apartment insurance.

At the 2nd apt I went to that also had the same problem (same neighborhood, old homes built poorly etc), I did push the landlord to have testing. Yes, the expert that came in documented the types of mold and spore count but because the landlord had hired him and not me, he wasn't as thorough as I wanted and there were games played around the company being forthcoming with me. Again I did not push back hard enough. I was so tired i let it go. Fight for yourself.

I can't remember what else I learned about the legalities of the mold testing but mostly it comes down to doing the testing as close to the mold colonies as possible. The bottom line is, if there are mold colonies, have the city find them. The testing numbers if not done close to the colonies can appear to be at a "normal" count.
Lazy landlords = sick, exhausted tenants. It's not right.

You are just at the beginning of your process but you will get through it. I am here to answer any questions I can for you.

Originally Posted by ragingtulip

OP,

I'm sorry for what you went through.

Am I correct in reading you were only exposed for three weeks? Does that mean you lived in this place for 3 weeks? Had you just moved in, unpacked boxes, set things up?

I'm told that washing clothes is sufficient...but it sounds like it was not enough in your case?

Most of my things were still in closed boxes, but not all. Since mold spores depend on gravity and air currents to move around, I don't think much if anything can "sneak into" my boxes, even if not tightly taped.

At some point though, I won't know which was boxes were which, if they had been opened and in which room. I'm really hoping to avoid getting rid of things, though cleaning everything sounds horribly arduous as it is. Also, I can't get rid of paper such as bills, taxes, medical records etc.

Unfortunately, I cannot get by without the things in storage. I am borrowing other people's items temporarily and do not have money to replace them. That would be prohibitively expensive.

Did you get the mold tested in that first rental of yours? If so, which method did you use? Did they give you the types of mold and quantities of mold? It is very expensive to hire someone and I'm also told that info isn't really useful, if you already know you have mold. I've also been told the Home Depot DIY kits are not useful.

Did you keep anything?

Again, I'm sorry for what you went through.

Thanks!

[WorkinThruIt]

PS really - Home Depot Petrie dish testing is a joke. Don't bother. An expert should come in and use infra-red and other high-tech tools to look for moisture and colonies and they should take air samples from both inside the wall or affected area and in the room itself.