Can we make landlord test for mold???

[suddenlyamama]

Hi mamas,

dd is 5 months old. We moved into a rental shortly before she was born. I have posted about the serious mold growing around our home but now we think it is getting more serious. She has been having this really scratchy cough for about 3 mths now. Only at night when in her bed. We have requested that our landlord have the place tested for air quality and a mold culture. He is not willing to do that. It would only cost him 350 dollars for those two tests. We suspect he will not cover testing because he will have to deal with whatever the results are. We were talking to our neighbors about this and they informed us that the precious renter moved out after a month because she had an allergic reaction to the house. 

I have been doing my research and mold seems to be a very scary problem. 

I don't even want to be sitting here in this house as we speak because we are realizing that maybe my chronic throat and ear infections for the last few months are not just about being out of wack with postpartum. 

Yikes, what do we do? 

[Annie Mac]

If he's unwilling to shell out a relatively small amount for a test, I doubt he'd be willing to pay the thousands of dollars to rectify the problem. I'd move out. If you have to pay a penalty to do so, what is cheaper, the penalty or the test? If you had to test done yourself, you would have a very compelling reason to move out and not incur a financial penalty for doing so.

[changingseasons]

You can buy a mold test kit for about $10 at a hardware store and test it yourself.  If it comes back positive, you can usually mail it in for another $40 or something to have them tell you exactly what types of mold are growing.  If it comes back as being a harmful/dangerous type, then you can take that to the landlord and let them know they HAVE to rectify the situation.  (Of course you might want to check into your state's laws on landlord responsibilities, but I'm pretty sure they would be required to fix a hazardous mold situation.)

[DevaMajka]

I would talk to whatever authorities in your area that deals with renting. You may be able to put rent money in escrow (is that it) until he tests/fixes it. If the house is unlivable, he *has* to fox it, but I'm not sure how mold fits in there. IIrc, black mold does make a place unlivable. You may have to prove it's black mold though, I don't know.

I'm planning to ask out LL to test for black mold, but I don't anticipate any problems . Ds2 srarted having breathing problems (that required an ER trip all 3 times) the week after the LL tore out part of our bathroom wall to fix a leak. We didn't put it together then. It still could be a coincidence, since it was the beginning of cold season anyway (and colds are what have triggered the breathing problems).

[Bokonon]

You definitely have rights when it comes to mold.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/problems.shtml

[changingseasons]

Originally Posted by Bokonon 

You definitely have rights when it comes to mold.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/problems.shtml

It's not always that simple though.  In your link, the only mention of mold is:

the presence of mold conditions in the rental unit that affect the livability of the unit or the health and safety of tenants

The bolded part is what you're going to have trouble with, because you might have the burden of proof there.  If your landlord is flat out refusing to test, then I would get the home test kits that I mentioned before AND make sure you have your DD's illness history.  Ideally, if you could get your ped to sign off that her respiratory problems might be environmentally-induced, it would give you a little more leverage with the landlord. 

eta:  What would be easier is just to break the lease and move out.  Given that link above, breaking the lease should be fairly simple if you can document your health problems since you've lived there (with medical records.)  The harder part is if you want to stay and have it fixed by the landlord.

[Bokonon]

Originally Posted by changingseasons 

Originally Posted by Bokonon 

You definitely have rights when it comes to mold.

http://www.dca.ca.gov/publications/landlordbook/problems.shtml

It's not always that simple though.  In your link, the only mention of mold is:

the presence of mold conditions in the rental unit that affect the livability of the unit or the health and safety of tenants

The bolded part is what you're going to have trouble with, because you might have the burden of proof there.  If your landlord is flat out refusing to test, then I would get the home test kits that I mentioned before AND make sure you have your DD's illness history.  Ideally, if you could get your ped to sign off that her respiratory problems might be environmentally-induced, it would give you a little more leverage with the landlord. 

Uh, sorry.  Is this better?

 

http://moldmildewinformation.com/2010/01/california-renters-rights-with-mold/

 

I live in California and recently dealt with mold as a tenant.

[suddenlyamama]

Thanks for your responses Mamas. So our LL came over this evening to "assess" the mold issue. Of course he said he would not pay for the test therefore we said we wanted to keep our baby safe and move out. He said okay. Hmmmmm do you think he knows there is mold here or what? What a creep. 

I am happy this worked out for us, but bummed we cannot afford to do anything legally as we dont have the money to pursue it. It will be amazing if we can scrape together the small fortune to move. I just feel really awful about the next person.

[changingseasons]

Can you contact your local housing authority to report it?  

[DevaMajka]

Originally Posted by changingseasons 

Can you contact your local housing authority to report it?  

 

[suddenlyamama]

Well, since this has all been over the last weekend I have left messages with many different places. Originally it was for help, possibly legal help. So I am waiting for a return call and then of course I will tell them all about it.

[TDET]

Don't underestimate the effects of mold on your health.  The leading expert in this country is Dr. Ritchie Shoemaker of Pocomoke , MD  He has just released his latest book on the subject, Surviving Mold.  Lots of good information on his website www.survivingmold.com.  Twenty four percent of the population is predisposed to ill health from exposure to mold and other biotoxins. Please be careful!!