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sunstar · Sep 4, 2006, 03:14 PM

Hi... it seems that my landlord takes me a just another stupid tenant. I reported to his office (he's a big-time realtor) that I feel there is mold in the mobile home that I am renting.They called me back and told me that 'he', the realtor (and name of the company), was coming by 'himself' to do an inspection. When 'he', (whom I finally met for the first time after renting 2 different places from them for 1-1/2 yrs.) showed up, he came inside and took a couple of sniffs in the air, then stated "There's no mold here". He then walked around the outside of the unit and came back to tell me "I can see where there are a couple of leaks and where water could be coming in. I'll have my maintenance come by & seal off the roof. Then after that they'll tear out a couple of pieces of the wall & fix them. That should take care of it". He's not an inspector, nor did he use any kind of testing kit.
My vinyl tiles are cracked, the floor is sinking in, the ceiling slopes downward, and the walls are buckled out all over due to past water damage (people in that park and mainteneace told me it had been hit pretty bad by Hurricane Charly in 2004). I've lived there since the end of Jan. '06. I knew nothing about molds or water damaged places before this. I grew up in nice homes. My issue is that I have asthma/copd (early stage), and over time my breathing has been becoming much worse, like waking up in the mid of every night & can't breathe, my moods and memory don't seem the best lately, either. This realtor/landlord also said that I could stay there the whole time these guys are inside fixing the walls. He told me "Mold isn't harmful to normal people", and that if I had a problem with staying there while their fixing those pieces of wall, I can just "go stay with your parents for 3 or 4 days". Please help. I need out of this situation but don't know what to do. I have 3 months. Left on lease, but need to get out now. Also, can you sue a landlord if you find that there 'is' bad mold in the walls? Thanks

Fr_Chuck · Sep 4, 2006, 07:03 PM

I would wonder why you would even move into such a place, since you had to have inspected it prior to moving in. The sloping ceilings and the buckled walls where there 9 months ago when you moved in??

So you are paying for a dump and that is what you got. I have many rentals and to be honest the people who pay me 250 dollars for a 2 bedroom home get a 250 dollar a month rental, not a 1000 a month rental and can not expect to have their home fixed to that level.

If you can prove there is mold, this should allow you to break the lease if he is not willing to fix it.

So if it is a health problem, move

brooks · Sep 4, 2006, 08:11 PM

Check your state landlord act. Depending on where you live, and your lease, your landlord may not be required to repair the problem (for example in AR you rent apartments “as is” and unless it is a habitability issue you may be SOL.

Your LL is correct most people don't have a problem with mold, however immune compromised and people with asthma can be sensitive to mold.