Residents of Chester apartment complex sick of alleged mold

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Residents of Chester apartment complex sick of alleged mold

The Delaware County Times - Chester,PA

By ALEX ROSE, arose@...

02/15/2007

http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?

newsid=17853237 & BRD=1675 & PAG=461 & dept_id=18171 & rfi=6

CHESTER -- Tenants of Crosby Square Apartments say there is a mold

problem causing health problems for tenants of ground floor

dwellings, but city inspectors are not so sure. " Everybody who lives

on the bottom row downstairs, they either have really bad allergies

or asthma, " said Marsia Potts, a 16-year tenant of the apartments

who is complaining with her neighbors that the owners of the

property are not addressing what she is convinced is a recurring

case of toxic mold.

" They claim they're fixing the problem, but it never gets better, "

she said. " It spreads, it grows from the bottom up in here, and then

it's in the kid's room, in the ceiling and the closets ..(Tenants)

are sick of their kids getting asthma, they're sick of their kids

getting sick. "

" It's mold, but also the plumbing is messed up where the tub and the

toilet will back up with feces and all sorts of sewage, " said Potts'

neighbor, Shakia .

That has been another recurring complaint at the 81-unit development

since it was built in 1972, and was cited by Chester activist

Carolyn Saunders in a 1978 federal complaint aimed at forcing the

Department of Housing and Urban Development to maintain the

apartments.

Property managers Rosemont Management Group LLC, of Lakewood, N.J.,

gave only a clipped response to those complaints last week.

" There's no mold growing there ..Any complaints our office gets, we

respond to, " said a woman who hung up when asked to identify herself.

A woman who answered the listed number for the owners of the

property, Crosby Square Apartments 2002 LLC, said she could get a

message to the owners, but also hung up as soon as mold was

mentioned.

Many Crosby Square residents called the Daily Times last week

complaining of allergy, sinus and asthmatic problems, all of which

match symptoms associated with mold, according to information

provided by McGarvey, spokesman for the Pennsylvania

Department of Health.

" The problem with mold is that it really is an individual-type

condition, " said McGarvey. " Some people could be around mold and

have no problems with it at all, others might be around it and have

allergy-type symptoms, " or worse.

That seems to jive with one woman's account -- she hardly gets more

than the occasional cold, but said her infant daughter has been sick

for two months. Her 4-year-old son and a niece who came to live with

her in September are also having problems.

" Her allergies since living here are tremendous, " said the woman,

who asked not to be identified. " My son also has breathing problems

and coughs a lot. "

But Chester Housing Inspector Leach said there were no signs

of mold when he inspected three units at the apartment complex Feb.

10.

" We did meet with the tenants and we did go through the property,

and we told them that if they disagreed with our findings they could

request, or hire if they wanted to, someone else to do a study, " he

said. " But we were confident that there was no health or safety

issues involving mold regarding the three units in question. "

Potts, who said she and her 17-year-old son are both asthmatic,

alleged the owners had simply painted over or cut away most of the

mold before inspectors arrived, and other tenants complaining of

mold problems simply wouldn't open their doors for fear of being

evicted. She is looking to hire outside legal professionals to do an

independent study.

" We are sick from this, " said Potts Monday. " That stuff is

destroying our lungs. "