46493 Re: Help to determine liability - mold in walls, under sinks and a/c

[Guest guest]

Your question is how to " determine liability - mold in walls, under

sinks and a/c " .

To sue or not to sue - that is the question. From what you described

you certainly sound as if you have a good case. However, the biggest

question is how can you prove it? This will take a lot of homework to

gather strong evidence. Once you have that, you can find a good

lawyer to represent you. We are not lawyers. We specialize in mold

detection.

We would love to comment on your story in regards to mold assessment,

because it is a typical scenario experienced by tenants in your

condition. But since your question was about " liability " , we will

respond with practical life experience as mold inspectors and the

question becomes whether to sue or not to sue. Incidentally, in

mid-January we plan to start a free newsletter, " Mold News " , where we

will evaluate real situations. If you are interested, we could

evaluate your scenario in our newsletter and comment on your situation

from a mold assessment point of view. Let us know.

Years of experience in hearing mold stories like yours have given us a

bird's eye view of the tenant/landlord situation in mold related

cases. The question whether to sue boils down to two things - health

and rights. Are you more interested in protecting your health or

making your landlord pay for being a bad landlord. You can't do both,

or at least not easily, and without endangering your health.

In our opinion people who are successful in any type of legal cases,

including mold cases, must possess five elements. First, they must

have a strong conviction that they've been wronged and they want

justice. Second, they are hard workers and they will do whatever it

takes. Third, they are obstinate and never give up. Fourth, they

need a good lawyer. And lastly, they better realized that it will

take time - a long time. But, the problem with mold is that time is

of the essence. When we are talking about living in a mold infested

dwelling, time works against you because the longer you stay exposed

to mold, the sicker you will get as time goes on, providing no proper

remediation is carried out.

If you feel strongly about your case, gather plenty of evidence and

find a good lawyer to represent you. Having a lawyer sends the

message to your landlord that you mean business. You can certainly

try to fight your landlord alone, but it will be much harder. I am a

prime example of a person who has the conviction I can fight City Hall

and win, because I've done it. My husband calls me " The Agitator

General " . I have earned this title and I am proud of it. But, if I

were in a mold-infested environment, I would seriously weigh all the

facts and decide whether suing is going to be worthwhile, or whether I

will simply enrich a lawyer. If I decide to sue, then I would obtain

plenty of evidence and would move out as quickly as possible.

Protecting my health is more important than proving to the world that

somebody else is wrong.

Back to your case. It is also our experience that only a very small

percentage of landlords will actually have the mold problem handled

correctly - meaning, having two independent companies - one that does

the assessment and another one that performs the remediation. A final

check is done with a post-remediation testing to insure that the

remediation has been carried out properly. Unfortunately, most

landlords want to cut corners and hire a handyman to fix the problem,

which many times compound the problem. Or, they hire an inexperienced

" specialist " , as in your case, to collect samples with a HEPA filter

cleaner on. It's simply ludicrous. In the end tenants will end up

moving out anyway, after much aggravation and deteriorated health.

Then, you wonder why those people waited so long?

There are many reasons why people don't take action. Tenants assume

that the landlord will fix the building and protect the health of the

tenants. Not, necessarily. So, tenants beg and plead with their

landlord to do something about it. After all, it's the landlord

responsibility, right? You bet it is their responsibilities, but it

is your health that's in danger!!! So, why argue about

responsibilities and stay in an apartment that is making you sick?

Our advice is this: If you plan on suing your landlord, obtain all

the evidence you need and get out as quickly as possible. By that I

mean having a mold assessment done by a reputable company who can

provide you with an excellent report of the conditions observed along

with pictures, sample collection and analysis, and interpretation of

the laboratory report. A good advice: Do not shop around for price

and do not get a report that says that a mold dog detected mold. That

won't stand up in court. You need the best, not necessarily the most

expensive, but you want quality, not cheap mold inspection, because

that's what you'll get. Obtain a list of mold inspectors from the

Better Business Bureau and call several of them. Ask for their

credentials, and choose wisely.

One of the reasons why people stay in a mold contaminated environment

is because they say they have no-where to go. Sure, they do. They

can find another apartment, however, relocating is a hassle and it is

costly. But, the biggest reason of all is that people do not want to

loose their security deposit. But what about the doctors bills and

medicine spent over several months, sometimes even a year? Also,

doctors can't do miracles if people continue to stay in a

mold-infested environment, their health cannot improve. Often tenants

will end up paying more on doctors' bills and medicine than the amount

of their security deposit. People need to take action as soon as they

connect the dots and realize that they started getting sick as soon as

they moved in. Our advice is TAKE ACTION! Leave your security

deposit behind and move on. It's your health.

It is unfortunate that many apartment complexes can get away with poor

maintenance, which subject tenants to mold exposure resulting in

respiratory distress and more. At least in Central Florida the

counties do not want to get involved, and the tenants have no one to

turn to. We have advised tenants to call the Department of

Professional Regulation " to report landlords " . We have no idea

whether this does any good.