Re: the `little' landlord not being culpible

March 1, 2006

, I asked him to check the visible mold saying

it could be making me ill. He knows that my roommate

had to move out because she got ill. I paid hundreds

and hundreds of dollars to get testing that showed

that the mold that is in my room is the kind that has

been linked to health issues, AND, the level in my

rooms is so high that they literally cannot test

it....it goes off the chart. I told the landlord

that.

Please, after all that, you don't find that at the

very least this man has been extremely negligent? I

have no sympathy at all for him. He lied to me when I

asked if the mold was dangerous. He should have had

it tested. It was his responsibility, not mine. He

is supposed to provide me with a `safe' place to live.

That's what I pay the big San Francisco bucks for.

He was negligent, and even when I tell him my

roommates now are all getting sick he refuses to do

anything except put bleach on the mold.

I'm not asking anyone to definitively link the mold to

my ill-health, BUT, I am asking a judge to at least

find my landlord highly negligent, and that he did not

fulfill his agreement to provide me with a safe,

livable space. At the very least I should get my rent

back.

Little landlords get no sympathy from me unless they

act in GOOD FAITH. There was none of that here.

Harriet

__________________________________________________

March 2, 2006

Harriet,

I am sorry if I sounded callous towards you and everyone in your

position. Maybe if I had to walk a mile in your shoes I would see

things differently.

I know when people lost their livelihoods, their health, their

possessions, their dignity it is an emotionally charged issue. Maybe

having been " my own landlord " and having been " negligent " concerning

my own health I am too biased to give an objective view.

I really apologize again if I sounded unsympathetic.

The fact is before all is said and done everyone is going to be

affected by this catastrophe.

On Tue, 28 Feb 2006 18:57:29 -0800 (PST), you wrote:

>, I asked him to check the visible mold saying

>it could be making me ill. He knows that my roommate

>had to move out because she got ill. I paid hundreds

>and hundreds of dollars to get testing that showed

>that the mold that is in my room is the kind that has

>been linked to health issues, AND, the level in my

>rooms is so high that they literally cannot test

>it....it goes off the chart. I told the landlord

>that.

>

>Please, after all that, you don't find that at the

>very least this man has been extremely negligent? I

>have no sympathy at all for him. He lied to me when I

>asked if the mold was dangerous. He should have had

>it tested. It was his responsibility, not mine. He

>is supposed to provide me with a `safe' place to live.

> That's what I pay the big San Francisco bucks for.

>He was negligent, and even when I tell him my

>roommates now are all getting sick he refuses to do

>anything except put bleach on the mold.

March 2, 2006

Here is an article that shows what is really involved here.. High

relative humidity inside of walls. This applies to all landlords..

Water leaks that go unrepaired = toxic mold

Its not rocket science.. Its building science.. By the way, welcome

back, I hope your vacation was nice.

Where/how did you do your testing? We may need a second round..

________

1: Indoor Air. 2004 Jun;14(3):196-9. Related Articles, Links

Wall relative humidity: a simple and reliable index for predicting

Stachybotrys chartarum infestation in dwellings.

Boutin-Forzano S, Charpin-Kadouch C, Chabbi S, Bennedjai N, Dumon

H, Charpin D.

Department of Chest Diseases and Allergy, Hopital Nord, Marseille, France.

Because the indoor mold Stachybotrys chartarum has been considered

as potentially responsible for serious health effects, its

identification in dwellings with water damages is of utmost

importance. As such dwellings are many, it would be of great value to

have a simple and reliable index for predicting its presence. The aim

of the study was to compare measurements of wall relative humidity

(RH) to mold identification in 458 samples from 100 dwellings. Mold

identification was performed by direct microscopic examination of a

sample collected on the wall by the gummed paper technique. Mean (+/-

s.d.) wall RH (%) was much higher (97.0 +/- 6.1) on the 30 samples

where S. chartarum was identified compared with the 291 samples where

other molds were identified (41.8 +/- 36.9) and to the 137 samples

where no molds were identified (38.9 +/- 34.8). There was no

straightforward relationship between wall and room RH. In conclusion,

this study clearly demonstrate that the simple measurement of wall RH

can be used as a reliable index for discarding and suspecting S.

chartarum infestation in dwellings. PRACTICAL IMPLICATIONS: This paper

suggests that very high relative humidity (RH) within walls is a

strong risk factor for their infestation with the 'toxic mold'

Stachybotrys chartarum. Besides, data from the literature demonstrate

that other molds are able to produce mycotoxins when RH is very high.

Thus, measurement of wall RH, which is easy to perform and very cheap,

could be used as a screening tool to select those dwellings where mold

identification should be performed and remediation should be promptly

carried out.

PMID: 15104787 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

March 2, 2006

This is so very true.. It was but one of the major sources of the problems in

my situation..

LiveSimply <quackadillian@...> wrote: Here is an article that shows what

is really involved here.. High