Mold in rental duplex

[GreenGeek]

Originally Posted by jasony

GreenGeek, find out what the person doing the inspection credentails are. A lot of the do-it-yourself test kits do not take volume samples adequately and may provide results that aren't helpful when trying to determining infestation of mold and extent of damage. It is a legal conflict of interest for a remediator to test and verify their own work also. So, if the complex is looking to do the clean up themselves (which they very well could be qualified to do - I don't know) it is recommended by most organizations in our industry (contact the IICRC - www.iicrc.org for more information) not to do both inspection and remediation. As far as inspecting it in January, if the person doing the analyses and testing knows what they are doing then they can inspect the building and develop a scope of work to remedy any potential situation that may be there. For more information on how to find professionals or indoor air pollutants see www.SolutionsIEC.com. I hope it all turns out well for you.

Jasony - thanks for the info. (I may need it!) I don't know if my apartment has mold or not, but I definitely did not submit a request to the management to have someone check my place for mold. I had only commented on someone else's thread in this forum about mold.

So you can imagine how surprised I was when they sent someone to check my apartment when I hadn't even asked them to. (The timing seems way too close to be purely coincidental) My concern is that they are monitoring my Internet activity. Sure I could ask, would they tell the truth if they were? If I thought they were monitoring my internet activity only for the sake of my own safety and comfort I wouldn't have even given it another thought, but ummm, we don't live in that kind of world, do we?

[jasony]

GreenGeek, when you find out what kind of credentials they have there are ways to verify that information too. I'm not saying they don't have someone there that can do the work, but for your own peace of mind I thought I'd let you know. If you want my help I'll look into it for you.

[jasony]

By the way... I don't work for your complex... ;-)~
You can get the information I was talking about on my website www.solutionsiec.com.

[jillz]

Originally Posted by Rice78

I have mold coming through the pain and tiles in my bathroom and the only thing holding the wall up is the tiles. A few fell off and the dry wall is no more it's just mold. My room mate is highly allergic to mold. I called my land lord and she sent the maintains man to look at it. He wants to just cover it up with a bathroom wall board. I've fixed these kine of problems my self before and offered to do it right, but she doesn't want to pay for parts and labor. (I asked for half off next rent $175 for about 16 hours of work and it cost about $180 for all parts) What should I do. We have no money to move any were else.

I have been dealing with this for years and the landlord never fixed it. Finally a leak was discovered and the mold was HEINOUS! The landlord came and took pics and then 5 days later gave us notice to move. In my 2 bedroom apartment, there was only *1* wall that had no visible mold. I had it tested by professionals (very expensive but worth it) and when it was going on the owner came busting into my apartment opening closets and doors and taking pics while harrassing me and the testers. I got her out and was freaked out because I was sure she would retaliate. She didn't until we didn't pay our rent in January. We were one day from moving and she served us with a 3 day pay or quit. The place was unhabitable and we didn't have to pay but she is a slumlord. So I had not only given my mold report to all my neighbors but also called the city building inspector to check the building since the owner and manager were just covering up the damage and bleaching the heck out of it (I am friends with my old neighbor and she has kept me updated). When they didn't respond I contacted every county supervisor here and they got back to me. Three days later the inspector was there. He is going back this coming Tuesday to check all the other apartments. We of course got threatening phone calls from the manager.

The reason why I am so h*ll bent on getting this fixed and possibly sue my landlord is the mold they found in my apartment has been known to cause MS symptoms and many other health issues I suffer from. I was healthy when I moved into this building and now not so much. Finding a lawyer who specializes in this is hard but I am waiting to hear from one to see if he will take my case.

I only wrote my story to let you know you it is VERY serious and your health can suffer greatly. You don't even have to see the mold for it to be a major health hazard. There was a case in LA where a 2 year old boy was though to be autistic but it turned out he had lesions on his brain that they were able to prove in a court of law was caused by the mold on the wood from the lumber yard that built the house. His case was settled for 22.6 mil. The lawyer for that case is reviewing mine.

Do NOT try to fix this yourself. The landlord needs to bring in professionals who will wear hazmat type suits to deal with it. There was an Extreme Home Makeover where the father had died trying to deal with a mold problem in his basement. This should be left up to professionals because the problem may be WAY worse than you can see or smell. If your landlord covers up the mold with out proper remediation, it could become a criminal issue. I will warn you, it WILL get ugly. The landlord will have to pay for your moving expenses if the place is deemed unhabitable and they also are required to pay to house you while it is getting fixed. It also may not just be your unit. Mold eats what homes are made of and if it has been going on a long time, the ones next to yours could also be affected.

I have been doing a ton of research and would be happy to answer any questions but I am in no way an expert.