health dept. inspection

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. Ive been a lurker lately and Ill talk more about whats

been going on later, but for now.....I called the health dept about

my old moldy apt. They are doing an inspection on Monday. I have

some questions about that. What will the inspection be like? What

will they be looking for? What should I show them? What should I

ask? What type of information should I expect, or demand? of them?

Ive posted my story before but I know there are so many posts, I

wouldnt expect anyone to remember. Anyway, heres the jist of it:

The upstairs apt. toilet leaked. I told the landlord and nothing was

done. 3-4 months later, our bedroom ceiling tiles fell down exposing

nasty moldy insulation. That was the room my 9 month old daughter

and I slept in. She got sick for the first time that month and has

had allergy symptoms ever since. She got a nebulizer with albuterol

treatments earlier this week. I have a weird thing going on with my

breast. Hopefully we will know more after the lab results are

returned from my bloody breastmilk. My husband now has an inhaler

and allergy meds for the first time in his life. That house is

falling apart. The siding is falling off, there are water damage

marks everywhere. Theres mold under the linolium. There are tiles

falling down from the ceiling. You can push the bathroom ceiling up

about 1/2 inch above the window where there is there is mold. The

windows (9 of 14) are falling out. I mean the whole window unit,

frame and all. Its like they werent nailed in. There is a good 3/4

inch gap between the window frame and the wall it should be attached

to. I bet if you pushed on it you could make it fall out. The list

is endless. Do I show the health department everything I can think

of? Another question, should I invite the property manager along for

the inspection? Its on monday and I have to hand my keys in on

tuesday. I was thinking that instead of having to drive back to that

hell hole, Id get 2 birds with one stone. Three birds, because I

wanted to walk through there with the prop. manager. Anyway so she

knew too. She just took over 6 months ago and has never even walked

through that piece of crap house. Its an old victorian and looks ok

but needs to be condemned. The health dept can condemn a house, cant

they? Any other suggestions for last min. evidence gathering? Ive

taken pictures and Im going to video tape it tomorrow. Should I take

samples of the mold or will the health dept. do that? I plan on

taking legal action against the previous prop. mgnr. and the owner

so what should I do before I have to give the keys back? I know its

very hard to prove mold related illness. I dont have the time or

money for that kind of effort. Can I go after him because of the

condition of the house? There are so many things wrong. We

complained and nothing was ever done. The owner is some multi-

millionaire that bought the house and never even looked at it. He

lives 12 hours away. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Sorry if

I ramble, I have a hard time keeping my concentration. I was in the

old apt. today and it only took a little while before I could feel

my throat drying out and my nose drying and burning. Hate is a

powerful word. I hate that house and I hate that slum lord.

~

ps. thanks for being the only ones who truly understand.