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Apartment buildings may look crisp outside but individual rental apartments may be discovered by their tenants to have suffered leak damage and extensive hidden mold - here we give some basic advice Tenant Mold Tests & Tenant's Notice to Landlord of Moldy Apartment, Home, Office

This document discusses the steps that a tenant in a rental apartment or rental home can take to deal with an actual or suspected mold problem and we discuss how to notify building management of a mold problem.

If you are not certain of the presence of unsafe conditions in the rental apartment, your letter should state your observations, complaints, concerns, and ask the building management to bring in the appropriate professional to inspect, diagnose, and if needed, specify what repairs, cleaning, or remediation are needed.

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What a tenant can do about a moldy apartment

Semonitis sp brown slime mold or pipecleaner mold © D Friedman at InspectApedia.com

1. Notify building management in writing: You should notify building management in writing of unhealthy unsafe conditions that need attention and that you are unable to live in the apartment.

See TENANT'S REPAIR LIST - REQUEST FOR REPAIRS [PDF]

Most building maintenance employees lack the training to recognize mold, conduct appropriate mold inspection and testing, diagnose the extent and causes of problem mold, and evaluate the risk of mold to rental tenants, nor specify the mold remediation procedures necessary.

2. Simple mold testing: You might be successful in identifying some of the mold suspect material you see as problematic, and you might collect a settled dust sample to see you can pick up indications of other problem molds or allergens.

Mold tests do not measure mold exposure: However identifying mold in an apartment, while it may convince building management to act, does not and cannot establish the level of exposure that an individual has had to the mold found, nor does it assure that the mold identified is the only or even the main hazard.

The prime use of tenant sampling in this case is to show management that there is at least some evidence of problem mold in the building

Our MOLD TEST KITS web page contains sampling instructions you can follow. I'm on assignment out of the U.S. and won't be processing any lab samples until after 9/10 so if you are in a rush you should use another lab but you can still follow our sampling procedures.

3. If building mangement responds: If building management elects to make some effort to deal with the problem:

3.a. Proper dust control: be sure that the work does not create demolition debris and mess which contaminates or further contaminates your belongings, especially soft goods like curtains, carpets, bedcovers, which may then require cleaning, and worse, upholstered furniture which might not be able to be cleaned adequately.

3.b. Possible contents cleaning: if your possessions are already likely to be contaminated with moldy dust they should be cleaned before taking them to a new home; soft goods can be laundered or dry cleaned; hard surfaces can simply be washed or wiped.

Moldy upholstered furniture is in question depending on how bad it is; surface dust can be vacuumed off of it; if upholstered furniture has been wet or has had mold growing on or in it is probably not salvageable without complete reupholstering from the frame up.

Moldy apartment (C) Daniel Friedman

4. If building management will not respond to a tenant's mold complaint: be sure that your mold complaint is reasonable.

Getting excited because of a few square inches of mold on bathroom tile grout is often not justified - unless there is evidence of leaks inside the bathroom walls, ceilings, floors. But seeing thirty square feet of contiguous moldy surfaces in your home or apartment is in most cases adequate reason to require professional inspection, preparation of a cleanup and leak repair plan, and professional cleaning.

We do not advise getting into an argument or legal dispute if it can possibly be avoided.

The costs in time and money are large and possibly worse, if the environment is actually one that is unsafe, spending months arguing is a distraction from the need to decide on and take prompt action to protect the building occupants.

 


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Reader Comments, Questions & Answers About The Article Above

Below you will find questions and answers previously posted on this page at its page bottom reader comment box.

Reader Q&A - also see RECOMMENDED ARTICLES & FAQs

On 2017-03-30 by (mod)

Frederick: just spraying for mold is not an acceptable nor effective mold remediation plan.

Moldy materials that cannot be cleaned such as drywall or insulation or wall to wall carpeting should be removed and the exposed building cavities cleaned.

On 2017-03-30 by FREDERICK

I live in a senior facility. I have a noticeable roof leak in two places on my ceiling since 1-2015. I notified management who only sprayed kilt on one spot to conceal the water stain. I hear water dripping in those areas during each rain downpour. Management recently has put blue tarp on most of the roofs but not mine.

I have documentation through our residential portal for service request to repair the leak six (6) times since 1-2015 yet no roof repairs has ever been done to date. I recently requested they do a mode spores air test or have someone to inspect my attic where the sound of dripping water is coming from to no avail.I live in houston texas where we have plenty rain downpours periodidically.

My sister who has lived her for 5 years was recently diagnosed with copd. My grandkids who visits are always coughing whenever they visit but it is not a cold since it clears up once they leave here.

There are even signs of a roof leak in the ladies restroom near the managers office where they just sprayed kiltz to hide the water stain.

My email address is slash3fold@gmail.Com.I posted the comment 3-30-17 regarding a two year roof leak in houston texas @ a senior facility

On 2015-08-20 by Barb

It's written on my lease, at my request, "Test for Mold." I left messages for landlord asking when it would be tested. This went on for 6-1/2 mos. Finally in June, about 6 wks. ago it was tested by a friend of landlord. I have not heard from office, landlord or testing person. I can see black mold coming thru wallboard in my bedrm.

Everything in my apt. smells of mold, including my checkbook and other books, pictures, towels, clothes, furniture, etc. Can I ask him to find me another apt., he pays for the move, and how do I get smell out of those things I mentioned.

On 2014-02-1 by (mod) -

Kim, my best advice is in the notes above and in the other articles in this series.

Beyond giving written notice, documenting conditions, and involving the health department, if a tenant finds a building unsafe or not habitable the further steps mean legal action - which may be necessary but unfortunately is costly for everyone.

On 2014-02-14 by Anonymous

I've been living in a 2 story apartment complex for the past 5 years. Our building was involved in the flood of 2008 and we were evacuated for a few months for repairs to the building.

It's known fact that black mold was found downstairs in other apartments and not removed properly. I suffer from chronic headaches, respiratory stress and constant allergy like symptoms. I've been tested for any known allergies at Mayo clinic and none found.

The management here and the owners turn a blind eye to any complaints or written notices or health concerns. It's facts that the roof leaked for over 2yrs before it was fixed, the flood of '08 the building was under water by at least 4' of rushing water.

The heating and cooling units are on the bottom wall of each unit. A lot of face lifting has been done. The smell alone is horrific. The carpets are the same since I moved here 5 yrs ago. Please Please I hope you can help me and others who live here! I so appreciated any action in this matter. Seems no one wants to get involved they'd rather suffer in silence! Sincerely, Kim Huemann

On 2011-07-20 by Anonymous

Thank you for your help


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