Hayward Tenants Sue Over Toxic Mold

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http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1095412 & nav=5D7lDWak (see video at URL above) Hayward Tenants Sue Over Toxic Mold Posted: January 22, 2003 at 6:23 p.m. HAYWARD (KRON) -- Residents of an East Bay apartment complex say toxic mold is making them sick. Residents of the Park Hill Apartments in Hayward are filing a multi-million dollar lawsuit against their landlord, saying they live in intolerable conditions. Inside the apartments there, the walls and window sills are cracked and peeling, covered with mildew and fungus. The dilapidated conditions are even worse in the bathrooms where fungus has turned the tile shades of green and yellow. Residents say that when upstairs tenants take a shower, the water leaks right through the wood into their living room. The Mayer family pays $1,200 per month for their apartment, which they say has deteriorated into a living hell. Their 15-year-old son ph suffers from asthma and can no longer sleep in his room. " My chest tightens up,†he says. “I feel like I’m having an asthma attack. I'm coughing and wheezing all the time when I'm in here." The Mayers have joined with more than 100 tenants and former tenants of the complex to sue the owner for $5 million. They say washing down the walls with bleach doesn't work, and neither does complaining to the landlord. Their attorneys have done tests in 12 units, and they say seven of the units came back with high levels of toxic mold. There's evidence of water leaking throughout the buildings, which only breeds more of the mildew and mold. "You could see water damage,“ says former tenant . “Water buckling from ceiling. It would just drip on a regular basis." Tenants say maintenance crews would drill a hole in the ceiling and let the water drain out, then just re-plaster and paint. Tenants say the problems surfaced five years ago, but moving out is not an easy solution. "I don't have money to move,†a Mayer says. It cost me $3,000 to move into this place. I don't have the money." (Copyright 2003 KRON 4. .)