Mold infestation in apartment

[STT Resident]

Originally Posted by Kim in FL

you are a much better person than I am! I didn't bother reading after the 'she-rock'.

It's sometimes an amusing exercise in my translation abilities. I was particularly taken with the, "your Brian is being affected" and, "Kimo therapy". I used to have a fiancé named Brian and was trying to figure out if or how he related, while the latter had me visualizing some sort of Asian therapy involving martial arts ...

[Kim in FL]

Originally Posted by STT Resident

It's sometimes an amusing exercise in my translation abilities. I was particularly taken with the, "your Brian is being affected" and, "Kimo therapy". I used to have a fiancé named Brian and was trying to figure out if or how he related, while the latter had me visualizing some sort of Asian therapy involving martial arts ...

LOL


The Kimo-therapy had me laughing out loud. I know I shouldn't laugh at other people's ignorance, but sometimes you can't control yourself.

[fidogretchen]

I can speak first hand about the nightmares of toxic mold, as I had a 2 year court case with my landlord (and won).
First, JUST MOVE OUT. Break the lease, do whatever you can, as you will be lessening the damages if you stay.
2. NO lawyer wants to take the case unless you are GRAVELY ill. If you're not, forget it. There is NO statute to this day about toxic mold, which is why lawyers don't want to take the case. The ONLY law to this date is that you cannot have dampness in in the walls, which is the source of toxic mold.
3. Plus, unless you are gravely ill, there is no money in it (other than compensatory damages for your property), AND it is extrememely difficult to prove in court, as there are many other reason why you can be feeling symptoms (typically they are fatigue, vertigo, itchiness, itchy eyes). It's A LOT of work for attorney's and is NOT an easy case, which means they put out more than what will be one. Like I said, unless you are gravely ill.
4. I had paid for my own mold inspectors (the city DOES NOT pay for it). The air-cell samples + tape lifts were $900. Once they showed high levels of the 3 dangers kinds (which combined, make Toxic Mold), we began the lengthy case.
5. Finally, just before we were to go to trial, we re-entered the residence (they had to re-locate me for 1 years while all of this was going on and my personal things were quarenteened inside for that whole time), and for a whopping $5,000 (not joking), we had an engineering team consisiting of mold inspectors, civil engineers, and an architect, RIP out the walls to find the source of the mold in it's entirety. We found it, EUREKA!
6. But, that wasn't how we won the case. Because remember, you can have all of the mold in the world, the money part is proving that alllll of your illnesses are life threatening or it they are not, you have causation link from the mold to your illness. Tough to say bc it's still so new and after all, ANYONE can have those symptoms for any other reasons.
7. Here's how we won though, I had a hidden camera in my apartment. The tape caught the workers painting over the mold in originally discovered and then gluing the carpet to the floor, such that the mold was seeming gone. BUT, because my lease had a mold remediation clause stating that it HAD to be professionally remediated, they broke their own lease. Thus, in mediation, she showed the defendants the video and they were furious. We told them this is no longer a compensatory case, but will include punitive damages because they INTENTIONALLY did not get rid of the mold professionally AND wrote me a letter (from the attny) stating that it was now safe and I can move back in. A jury would have REEMED them for putting my health at risk with a lie.
Soooo... my advice to you is that unless you can catch them doing something shady, best to pack up and go, which means breaking your lease. It will suck financially, but it's not worth the horrible health issues that follow for the rest of your life.
As a last note, there were 400 units in my complex, MANY with mold, I was just the only one who sued. Three months after the settlement, they sold the building. The source was traced to the flat top roof, which was a $3 million repair.
Good luck to you... and just get out.

[Dhopkins3]

Ok I'm living in this building in Palm Springs , California..., I am noticing that every single person that resides here is becoming very ill i many different ways. There has always been some type of water leak in the building in one room or another and not once have I ever seen a "plumber" come in for the repairs. I my self have rebuilt the bathroom ceiling on 5 occasions in my unit alone.

Needless to say 21 out of 28 residents that live here are involved in a serious habitability lawsuit against the owner, but that is only for the habitability issues what can be done about all of the people who are falling ill from all of this...., there is a man who is in the hospital on his death bed today from this and I have no way of actually attributing it to the toxic mold in this building.

While I have contacted almost every department available in the city with regard to the mold I can't seem to get any of them to respond to the matter ...just pass the buck..

I really need a person in the state of California to address this public danger ...can I get a representative? Who can I contact who can deal with this for us?

[mold in woodstock]

I have mold that I can see and smell . I have treated it with the mold removal bleach spray but it keeps coming back and more then before. Is there a way to get it tested free. My landlord is a slum lord and does not care. I have reported it several times and they have done nothing. My belongings are getting ruined.

[Sherron Roberts]

I am afraid because I have been sick for 6 weeks and cannot get well. After 3 regimens of prednisone and antibiotics I still have the same problem. I do believe something is making me sick through the vents of my apartment even though I may not be able to prove it without spending a lot of money which I don't have. Please help!

[evmille]

I live in an apartment in Delaware Ohio...I recently noticed black mold forming over the tub in the bathroom. Told the rental office. They tore off a part of the ceiling and it was full of mold..apparently there has been a slow leak...I have allergies to mold and have been miserable for months now with sore throats and constant runny nose when I'm here in the apartment...I think they are going to come and "patch" up the problem. How do I get an inspector to check this...