Rental Home Mold
Q.
Dec. 16, 2011, from Canada. We are living in a house that has mould
growing all the way through, on walls and the roof and also on our
belongings. We have been cleaning this for the last 2 years and 6
months. The landlord and real estate just don't care. My 5 children and
myself are always sick, These are just some of what we are experiencing:
Really bad headaches, Fevers, Runny noses, Constant coughs, Sneezing for
half an hour at a time, Hives, My 6 Yr old son has bowel problems, My
9Yr old daughter has constant kidney infections and uti's, Bleeding
noses, Ringing in the ears, and There is much more. Do you think this
could be making us sick as i can't afford to pay anyone to inspect the
mould, Please give me some advice. The mould is pitch black.
A.
What you describe are commonly-experienced mold-caused health problems. Your
family's serious mold-related health problems mean you need to move
somewhere safe as soon as possible. Read about landlord mold liability at
http://www.moldinspector.com/landlord_liability.htm. Landlords
owe a legal duty to provide tenants with habitable housing, and mold in
rental units makes units uninhabitable. The problem is that landlords don't
care about the mold health problems of their tenants. If you sue a landlord,
it will take years in court and cost many thousands of dollars in attorney
fees. In the interim, your family's health is at very serious risk. Please
read all about mold health on the 400 pages of http://www.moldinspector.com.
You can use low-cost Tenant to Landlord legal notice forms available at
http://www.moldmart.net to try to get positive action from your
landlord. You should also read these two of mold expert Phillip Fry’s mold
ebooks: (1) Mold Health Guide; and (2) Mold Legal Guide,
only $15 each for email attachment delivery to you from Mold Mart.
Q.
Nov. 25, 2011. I’m experiencing respiratory issues in my home, since the
hurricane / wet season in late august early September. I have been
attempting to isolate and problem solve what the issue is and need an
expert at this point. There is not obvious evidence of mold so it has
been a bit of a mind challenge. Is it really happening? I consistently
wake up with a slight lung burn and a low lying sinus kind of
congestion, perhaps a slight fever, I feel sick but my health and
vitality are normal. I feel itchy, closest thing i have experienced is
hay fever. This is a tight envelope house, I think because the heat
retention is excellent in the winter. I rent. I need help immediately.
I am concerned about developing a chronic sensitivity / asthma to
allergens or mold for myself and my 11 year old daughter. I have
questions about what the landlords responsibility or what tenant rights
I have if it comes down to expensive remediation
or expensive testing.
A.
Your health symptoms could well be mold-related. You should get medical
help from a local lung doctor as the first medical specialty to get help
from. You should also read carefully three of my in depth mold advice
ebooks Mold Health Guide, Mold Legal Guide,
and Do It Best Yourself Mold Inspection, Testing, Remediation, and
Prevention, only $15 for email attachment delivery to you from http://www.moldmart.net.
You can buy all five of my mold advice ebooks for only $49 in the
Mold Library. Your landlord has the obligation to provide you with
a habitable place to live, and if your rental is mold-infested, that is
not a habitable environment. Please read more about landlord legal
liability for mold athttp://www.moldinspector.com/landlord_liability.htm.
When you suspect mold but cannot see mold growth, your best course of
investigative action is to do air testing of the outward air flow from
each heating/cooling duct register and of the air in each room of your
rental unit. You can use do it yourself mold test kits for such testing.
You can buy good mold kits at
http://www.envirodetectives.com/mold_test_kits.htm. For testing the
air flow out of the heating/ventilating/air conditioning (HVAC) ducts,
tape one opened mold test kit to each duct register grill with the
sticky side facing outward air flow. Run your HVAC system for 10
minutes, and then remove and seal the test kits and watch for mold
growth in each mold test kit over a 7 day time period. If there are many
mold colonies growing and/or different types (visually) of mold colonies
(different colors, different appearance), that is a good indication you
are living in mold infestation because of mold contamination of your
HVAC, a very common problem. Learn about air conditioning mold at http://www.airconditionermold.com.
If you see big mold growth (more than one or two mold colonies after 7
days), you can submit your mold sample test kits to
Mold Mart for mold lab analysis to determine the different mold
species inhabiting your rental residence. You should also be a good
mold detective and look for mold by using a strong flashlight to look
into each HVAC duct for mold growth, and also check for mold growth
beneath kitchen and bathroom sinks and behind and beneath furniture in
your home and in your rental home’s basement, crawl space, and attic.
My DIY book has plenty of practical pointers for you to do your own
home mold inspection. Please email me any follow up mold questions you
may have. Phillip Fry, Certified Environmental Hygienist
Q.
My family and I just recently moved into a
rental home. ( My husband was laid off and we had to sell our home and move to something
cheaper.) My children are all having allergy symptoms (they have not previously had
allergies), my 4 year old has waken up a couple times in the middle of the night saying that
he can't swallow and once he had trouble breathing. Is feeling like you can't swallow
a side effect from mold exposure? He also has frequent nose bleeds and is always
congested. I am also having congestion and a hoarse voice when waking up in the
morning. I am running air purifiers but honestly it only seems to help a little.
All the mentioned symptoms are with the purifiers running. The house has cement walls in
over half of the living space in the basement. There are bedrooms and a family room
down there. It always smells musty in the house and especially in the basement.
Throughout most of the house we are not able to put furniture or anything against (or close
to) the walls because within a day there is moisture and mold growing where the item touched
or almost touched the wall. This is not just in the basement but throughout most of
the house. Especially in my bedroom where there is a corner where if a book or piece
of paper gets near the wall, black mold grows almost within a few hours. All of the
window sills especially upstairs (not much of a problem in the basement) get moisture in
them everyday and then if I don't clean them constantly mold will show up within a day.
In the kitchen the cupboards smell musty, so much that I won't put my food or anything in
them. Under the sink there seems to be dry rot and also a couple small spots on the
floor. The kitchen floor got wet the other day (there is carpet in the kitchen) and a huge
mold smell instantly was present. We have talked to the landlord about these things
and he just says not to put furniture or anything against the walls and clean them if mold
becomes present (which we do often) and just clean the window sills a couple times a day.
He is not interested in putting money into this house. I told my husband that we
should try to move. We really don't have much money to move and my husband thinks my
concern over the mold is exaggerated. I am hoping to get some insight into this
problem and a possible solution. [April 29, 2002]
A.
You are absolutely right that you need to leave that mold hell immediately. Your family's
health can be permanently and seriously injured by continuing to live in that mold infested
place. Most landlords don't care about what health damage is done to tenants by mold. It
will take many lawsuit victories by tenants against landlords for mold-caused health
problems before landlords will get the message that they owe a duty to provide a habitable,
mold-safe rental environment for their tenants. Visit:
Landlord Mold. Read
the indepth ebook Mold
Legal Guide.
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