'Monster' Mold Forces Family From Home

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'Monster' Mold Forces Family From Home

Local6.com - Orlando,FL

POSTED: 9:45 pm EST November 7, 2006

UPDATED: 2:37 am EST November 8, 2006

http://www.local6.com/news/10268387/detail.html

A mold described as a " monster " became so bad inside a Central

Florida apartment that it began to grow on a couple's clothes and

threatened their health, according to a Problem Solvers

investigation.

and his wife have lived in the Logan Heights

Apartments in Sanford for four years, and recently the mold has

become a serious problem.

" The oppressive weight of mold in the air would nearly knock the

breath out of you, " Local 6's said.

Recently, 's wife was diagnosed with lung cancer.

" When I told the doctor we had a lot of mold here, he said, ',

you got to get out of that place. Your wife has lung cancer, you

cannot be living in a place like that,' " said.

said he hoped the apartment management would do something

about the mold.

He said maintenance has been in twice to clean with bleach, but it

was not able to kill the mold.

Local 6 News showed video of mold growing on shoes in a closet and

on pants.

said he sent the pants to the dry cleaners but the mold

returned after two days.

" We've been complaining to these people that we don't want to be

here, but we can't afford to move to an expensive place because I am

not a rich man, I'm not rich anymore, " said.

" He is not rich because his wife's illness has all but depleted

their savings, " Local 6's said.

said that at the time of the story, management offered to

move the 's to another unit but the wait would be a few

months.

However, other apartments Local 6 News inspected in the complex

appeared to have mold issues as well, said.

Local 6 tried to contact Logan Heights corporate offices several

times but did not receive a response.

" You will have to leave the property and you will have to contact

corporate, " a worker said. " Thank you. Have a good day. "

" What do I do if corporate does not respond? That's my problem, "

said. " The problem doesn't go away because corporate is not

responding. "

" I don't know, " the worker said. " You'll have to talk to corporate. "

A landlord and tenant attorney said she gets mold complaints from

apartment dwellers all over Central Florida.

" What I personally tell people to do is I advise them to get a mold

inspection service to come out, spend a little money and get a mold

report to say there is a problem and it's a health hazard --- fix it

or give us a new apartment if they like that apartment complex, "

attorney Roshani Gunewardene said. " Or terminate the lease and move. "

" Other than that, there really is no legal remedy and little hope

for people who can't afford a mold inspection service, "

said. " What's worse, we checked with authorities at every-level,

city, county, and state -- and there are no mold standards or codes

that residential rentals must comply with. "

Renters should also be aware of mold addendums, now common in

leases, that put much of the burden on the renter to keep the

apartment mold-free, according to the report.

said the man who owns the complex has paid almost $4,000 to

move the es out of the complex and replace some of their

items damaged by the mold.

Watch Local 6 News for more on this story.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 11/8/2006 7:17:41 AM Central Standard Time,

tigerpaw2c@... writes:

From the article Monster Mold....

" What's worse, we checked with authorities at every-level,

city, county, and state -- and there are no mold standards or codes

that residential rentals must comply with. "

This, is what we must work towards changing. For this also affects HOA's as

well.

There are some codes and standards that fall under the category of

habitability for dampness. However when you read through these, they are

geared

towards extreme conditions only, such as what one sees in tenements. Most

people

living in substandard rental housing are not in a position to challenge their

landlords and or to contact the Dept. of Health and Safety. For many, the

tenements are the only housing they can afford.

With an HOA, the board of directors have a fiduciary duty to maintain the

common areas. If they are negligent in their duties and moisture problems

cause mold damage to a residence and even sometimes to an entire complex, then

the homeowner must sometimes battle with the association, some of whom have no

concern for the health and safety of the homeowners.

Bobbins, RN, L.Ac, QME