Report Mold in Apartment Complex? (Wayne: 2014, city hall, lease)

[jhampt09]

My sister lives in a apartment out in Wayne, MI.

There was a really bad storm in August 2014 (I don't remember the exact date) and the basements in the complex flooded, causing the hot water tank to go out.

All of the water has been drained and the hot water is back on. However, the basement has a old mattress down there and some old furniture that got wet during the flooding. It's still down there. Also, the water has been drained, but all the dirt and residue from the flooding has not been cleaned.

My sister is 6 months pregnant and I'm afraid of the mold that's growing in the basement. It's a horrible smell traveling up the stairs from the basement and through the halls to which, the residents just keep the front and back doors open during the day to air out the building.

I did some searching online, but I really cannot find if there is a place to actually report mold growing in the building. She and other residents have (verbally and written) asked the complex if they are going to clean up the basements, but the response from management is "We will get to it when we can".

I want to pull her out of the apartment, but she is afraid of the costs and possibly damages to her credit if she breaks her lease.

Is there any place I can go and ask to get management to escalate looking into the issue?

[detwahDJ]

It's the concern of your local health department. The managers sound like slumlords who might be vindictive, however as long as you pay rent they can't legally evict complainers. Your managers should know that mold is a real health hazard.
If you are in HUD subsidized housing, you have even more protection.

[Retroit]

Have you asked at city hall? Apartments have to be inspected periodically. Maybe they can come out and take a look?

[Cliffie]

Can't she stay with you for a few days without, as you put it, breaking her lease? If the place is in a filthy or unsafe condition she is even allowed to withhold paying rent until they clean it up, you know! Or if she pays for it after they refuse or fail to follow thru, she can deduct that from her rent (as long as she keeps the cleaning receipt).

[Retroit]

You also might want to hire a professional to test for mold. I'm not sure how much it costs, though. But at least you would have third party evidence on your side.

[jhampt09]

Thanks for the replies.

Based off their behavior the past couple of weeks, I did pull my sister out of that horrible apartment. It rained again I think a week or two ago and the basements flooded again!

Of course they let the water drain again and the mold continues to grow. So I decided to drop notes for her in their dropbox and kept a daily record or the maintenance requests to clean the basement.

The messages went unanswered.

I talked to a lawyer in legal aid and had my sister in company with me. He was nice enough to mail them out a certified letter stating that they have 10 days to clean the basements or we will take them to court to terminate the lease due to un-livable standards.

I was advised by the attorney that yes we do have to continue to pay rent or they could evict my sister for non-payment of rent.

The attorney also reported the incident to the City of Wayne Environmental services.

Unfortunately, our persistence in the issue led to them sending my sister a lease termination letter in the mail. Which we are happy about, but now my sister is concerned that they will still try to make her pay a $1,200 dollar lease termination fee even though they are the ones that are terminating. This sounds like retaliation which is illegal, but I'm just happy to finally be getting my sister to safety.

Oh, and the basements still have not been cleaned.....

[detwahDJ]

Originally Posted by jhampt09

Thanks for the replies.

Based off their behavior the past couple of weeks, I did pull my sister out of that horrible apartment. It rained again I think a week or two ago and the basements flooded again!

Of course they let the water drain again and the mold continues to grow. So I decided to drop notes for her in their dropbox and kept a daily record or the maintenance requests to clean the basement.

The messages went unanswered.

I talked to a lawyer in legal aid and had my sister in company with me. He was nice enough to mail them out a certified letter stating that they have 10 days to clean the basements or we will take them to court to terminate the lease due to un-livable standards.

I was advised by the attorney that yes we do have to continue to pay rent or they could evict my sister for non-payment of rent.

The attorney also reported the incident to the City of Wayne Environmental services.

Unfortunately, our persistence in the issue led to them sending my sister a lease termination letter in the mail. Which we are happy about, but now my sister is concerned that they will still try to make her pay a $1,200 dollar lease termination fee even though they are the ones that are terminating. This sounds like retaliation which is illegal, but I'm just happy to finally be getting my sister to safety.

Oh, and the basements still have not been cleaned.....

I don't think they can charge for lease termination if they are evicting - especially with a health hazard they are not addressing. On what grounds are they evicting? Doesn't sound like an eviction since it would be stated as such.
That "lease termination" sounds more like a "permission to break lease without penalty" due to your lawyer motivating them, but check the wording carefully. If you are keeping records and they are dragging their feet under unhealthy living conditions of their own doing, I would bet they want nothing to do with a judge.