I believe my apartment complex is hiding high radon levels. Looking for attorney. Recommendations? (Greenville: renters, lawyer) - Greenville - Spartanburg area - South Carolina (SC) -Greenville - Spartanburg - Simpsonville - Greer - Easley - Taylors - Mauldin - Duncan - City-Data Forum

CarolinaMom79 · 12-19-2012, 06:03 AM

I posted yesterday looking for a low-cost attorney regarding my apartment situation. (Apartment breaking our lease due to "bugs".) Since then, I found out that my apartment seems to have been aware that they have high radon levels and has not informed the residents of this. (I believe they have known for at least several months.) I am looking for an attorney to discuss this with. PM me if you do not feel comfortable leaving names here. Thank you.

trecnocin · 12-19-2012, 06:58 AM

Buy a radon kit and find out.

Is your apartment at or below ground level? If not, while not impossible, the likelihood of high-levels of radon being on the upper floors is very little. Radon is about 9 times heavier than air which is part of the reason it collects at the basement level.

Mr. Mon · 12-19-2012, 09:40 AM

Have your apartment building basement tested. The kits can require a room be closed off so that might be difficult in a shared space. Home inspectors can often perform a faster test or recommend someone to do it for you. Even if there are high radon levels, the installation of a venting system is not very expensive.

What makes you believe that your building has high radon levels?

Shadetree930 · 12-19-2012, 01:16 PM

Let me get this straight?

Your looking to get a lawyer to deal with an unproven radon allegation in an apartment complex?

You would first have to pay a PROFESSIONAL to test for radon. You have that money? You would then have to prove demonstrable damages. You have any? Based on your previous posts, we do know you do not have Benjamins falling out of your pockets so what are you going to pay a lawyer with? There is no pot of gold at the end of your lawsuit so no lawyer is going to bother with a petty suit like this on contingency.

Lawyers are not going to make unicorns leap over chocolate rivers for you. My advice would be to focus on finding your new apartment.

Sunbather · 12-19-2012, 01:26 PM

Unless you have a strong case and proof of harm to you, it is very hard to win this small claims stuff. And even when you win, it often isn't worth it.

CarolinaMom79 · 12-19-2012, 04:16 PM

For everyone who is jumping at me... my point is this. I live (ground level) in an apartment that tested the air quality in the apartment several months ago and the property manager is refusing to give me the air test results. They put up radon fans all over the complex two weeks ago but they claim it is a preventative measure and there is no radon. If there is no radon, why won't they give me the test results? I could try to test it myself, but they are making me leave my apartment because they are breaking my lease- I don't exactly have a lot of time to do the tests (plus they already have the fans installed now). I'm more concerned about the health effects due to the seven years I've already lived here.

GreenvilleEngineer · 12-20-2012, 07:06 AM

They are breaking your lease due to "bugs"? Do you mean that they feel you are the cause of the bugs?

Regardless of the reason they are breaking your lease, you will be moving shortly and if you are not having any health problems after seven years of living there, you will probably not in the future either.

CarolinaMom79 · 12-20-2012, 12:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GreenvilleEngineer

They are breaking your lease due to "bugs"? Do you mean that they feel you are the cause of the bugs?

Regardless of the reason they are breaking your lease, you will be moving shortly and if you are not having any health problems after seven years of living there, you will probably not in the future either.

They are completely emptying four buildings of all the residents- whether the individual apartments are infested or not- because they say it's easier to kill the bugs if the building is empty. I have never heard of such a method for extermination. (And even if that is true, I don't see how they can do that- break our leases, so that they can kill bugs and not let us move back in to complete the rest of our lease when they are finished.)

And as far as health problems go... I do have health problems. I have had them for nearly as long as I have lived here. They absolutely could be completely unrelated. I don't know.

I'm not claiming to want to sue anybody. I just want legal advice because some of the things that they have been doing seem very odd to me (they could be completely innocent, I don't know) but the whole story is odder than what I have posted here. I'm trying not to give many of the details, because for one thing- I certainly don't want to identify the apartment complex because for all I know- they may have done nothing wrong.

WannaliveinGreenville · 12-20-2012, 07:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by CarolinaMom79

They are completely emptying four buildings of all the residents- whether the individual apartments are infested or not- because they say it's easier to kill the bugs if the building is empty. I have never heard of such a method for extermination. (And even if that is true, I don't see how they can do that- break our leases, so that they can kill bugs and not let us move back in to complete the rest of our lease when they are finished.)

And as far as health problems go... I do have health problems. I have had them for nearly as long as I have lived here. They absolutely could be completely unrelated. I don't know.

I'm not claiming to want to sue anybody. I just want legal advice because some of the things that they have been doing seem very odd to me (they could be completely innocent, I don't know) but the whole story is odder than what I have posted here. I'm trying not to give many of the details, because for one thing- I certainly don't want to identify the apartment complex because for all I know- they may have done nothing wrong.

Did you contact an attorney?

Isellschouses · 08-01-2013, 04:13 PM

Sounds like your apartment complex is a bit "shady" to force people out so they could TREAT for bugs. I have never heard of that before!

But if you live in an apartment vs a house you have a "right" to get your unit tested! You may have to PAY for the test. You can conduct your own test, but many apartment owners would probably put more confidence in an individual that is "certified" and might even want to also hire their own to do an "independent test". (Don't let a "home inspector" do them for you! If they haven't taken the time to "GET CERTIFIED" to conduct a test, WHY would you want to spend "good money" and then "rely" on the results they provide?

A "certified" radon professional ONLY uses "electronic equipment" to conduct your test. Their devices take "hourly samples" for 48-72 hours and then they have the ability to hook the monitor to a PRINTER and print your results out THERE ON THE SPOT! The better ones also provide hourly readings for temperature, humidity and barometric pressure and have "motion detectors" inside. If they are "certified" and use a continuous monitor they should also be CERTIFIED to "USE" a continuous monitor! This means they have to have had passed a "device performance test" which demonstrates they know HOW to get the results OUT of the monitor and to INTERPRET them correctly. That is what happens when a "charcoal kit is used and sent to a laboratory. The LAB ...NOT the "tester" analyzes and interprets the results! The continuous monitor tester should ALSO be able to provide documentation that the monitor they are using has been "re-calibrated" in the last year!

Finding that you have a problem with radon in your apartment is no assurance that the OWNER will be "willing" to fix it for you! Unless perhaps you could get others to ALSO get their units tested and the results came back high! Then the owner might feel "pressure" to take action or run the risk of losing tenants. If you had several renters who found problems with radon you could always contact the local TV station and ask one of their reporters to come out and talk to you about it. There is no guarantee that that would force the owner to ACT...but the "publicity" on the problem might do so! Who wants to rent in a complex with potential health liabilities? Best of luck in dealing with WHEREVER you end up living!