[Need Help]

I moved into my apartment in Nov. after I moved in I found that I have mold growing on the blinds and along the window of the bedroom that I sleep in. I called my landlord and told him about it; and nothing was ever done. When I found out that my building was sold I contacted the new landlord and told him about the mold too. I called him about 2 weeks ago and he said that he would take care of it. Till this day I still have the mold on my blinds and window. Someone told me to contact the dclu in seattle, because that is a health code violation. When I contacted them they said that they have nothing to do with mold growing to just clean it with bleach and water. I was told when I signed my lease that $200 of my deposit was non-refundable due to a blind cleaning fee. I don't know what to do are who to contact about the problem? And do you know if there is any way that I can just get out of my lease without losing my deposits due to this problem?
Randy
Seattle, WA

[mr.yet]

If no one will help, take pictures of it, contact the health dept again, if they refuse to do anything publish it in the local paper, when the refuse to help they don't like to be on TV, show everyone in the building the problem also.

[Fr_Chuck]

Well personally I would have just cleaned it up and been done with it and not risked my health since they are acting as many landlords and not doing repairs.

YOu need to give them legal notification, send them a certified letter stating the problem and what you want done. If they don't fix it you can have the work done by someone and sue the landlord for the repair.
** Of course be sure that your NEW lease or rental agreement with the new owner states anything about repairs and what it states about issues like this.

Your new landlord (owner) should have had you sign a new lease after he bought the building.

[sideoutshu]

I am an attorney living in a pre-war building in NYC. My law firm handles mold cases and I am familiar with the issues that are involved. I have a recurring patch of mold in my apartment which I rent.

Notwithstanding my ability to take other measures, when the patch recurs every couple months, I scrub it with bleach and it goes away. I would guess that in the time it has taken you to post on this site, and/or consider your legal alternatives, you could have remedied the problem yourself five times over.

Unless you have young children or someone very old living with you, a little mold isn't going to hurt anyone. While the landlord may have an obligation to fix the problem, you are probably better off buying a $2 bottle of bleach and spending 10 minutes cleaning it yourself.

[excon]

Hello Randy:

With all the rain we've had here, I have mold growing everywhere too. I think the above advice is good.

I would do a couple things, however. First, instead of being “told” what your lease says by your landlord, read it. What does it, in fact say? In that same regard, when you are having difficulty with landlords, you should communicate by phone, but follow up IN WRITING, with a letter sent certified, return receipt requested. Emails work. Take pictures of the problem, too.

Does your arrangement mean that your blinds were "professionally" cleaned before you moved in? I would assume that to be so, since you're going to have to pay a lot of bucks for them to be cleaned when you leave. If that's so, then after I cleaned them myself, I would ask the landlord how mold could grow so quickly on professionally cleaned blinds?

The gist of this communication wouldn't be to get them to clean them (it ain't going to happen, as you've determined), but so that you're not going to have to give them $200 of your money for nothing. Hopefully the lease will be changed. If it isn't, once you leave, you may have a case against them in small claims court for your $200.

In direct answer to your question, I doubt very seriously whether you can just vacate without experiencing a financial loss.

Then there is black mold. I think it's dangerous, and I think you can terminate your lease right now, if you have it, with NO financial loss.

excon