When 'Going Green' Isn't Good for Your Environment

[Guest guest]

When 'Going Green' Isn't Good for Your Environment

Colorado State Collegian*

Amy

Issue date: 10/13/08

http://media.www.collegian.com/media/storage/paper864/news/2008/10/13

/Opinion/When-going.Green.Isnt.Good.For.Your.Environment-

3483713.shtml

Many students come into our office worried that the mold they see

in their rental unit is dangerous. Our first instinct is to run, not

walk, out the door.

There is good reason to be concerned. Mold can cause very serious

health problems. But before you pack up, come see us. Believe it or

not, that nasty mess may not be grounds enough to break your lease

without financial consequence.

The good news: Truly toxic mold is not very common. The bad news: It

is very hard to tell which kind has taken up residence as your new

roommate.

Further complicating things: Each one of us has different

susceptibilities to mold exposure. One person might peacefully exist

in a moldy environment with few or no symptoms while another ends up

hospitalized.

As far as getting out of your lease goes, there are five places we

look for justification. First: look at your lease itself. It may

contain clauses relating specifically to mold. They may be contained

within another subject heading, like 'Repairs' or 'Condition of

Premises' or in a listing of what 'Landlord Agrees To …,' or it may

be a paragraph set on its own. Sometimes landlords even include

a 'Mold Addendum' to the lease.

It's important to recognize your lease is a contract between you and

your landlord and addendums are part of that contract.

Moreover, whether you read it or not, your signature on a lease

indicates your agreement to be bound by all of its terms. If that

contract already addresses exactly what each party's

responsibilities and rights will be if mold is discovered in the

rental, then those parameters must be followed in order to avoid

liability for being in breach of contract.

Second: the volume of mold or the underlying cause of its presence

and growth may violate municipal codes. This, too, can provide

grounds to break a lease. For example, is the mold there because

inadequate ventilation has led to its growth? A city or health

inspector can come out and prepare an inspection report on their

findings related to the mold. Fort ' Building Services

Department can be contacted for these kinds of inspections at 970-

221-6760. In addition, you can call the Larimer County Health

Department at 970-498-6700.

Third: if you signed your lease on or after Sept. 1, 2008, you are

protected by Colorado's new " Warranty of Habitability. " Very

generally, it requires landlords to provide a habitable dwelling

that is not hazardous to a tenant's life health or safety. Mold

exposure that is making you sick would be included here.

Fourth: for those tenants whose leases were signed prior to the

Warranty's effective date, the Covenant of Quiet Enjoyment may still

protect you. Implied in every lease in Colorado, unless your lease

expressly excludes it, CQE provides tenants with the right to

occupy, use and enjoy the premises without interference from

landlord or something under landlord's control. Landlord's breach of

CQE may give tenant the right to end the lease.

Finally: You might be able to use landlord's responsibility to

disclose hidden defects as justification for terminating the lease.

This concept can be used where you were not told about the mold

before you moved in, its presence wasn't obvious at walk-through and

the landlord either knew or should have known about the mold but

neglected to tell you about it.

In the end, it's not possible in the span of one column to cover all

the considerations and exceptions that need to be taken into account

in mold cases. Brevity is simply not the nature of the law. The most

critical point here: if you have a mold problem and it seems to be

causing health problems, come in and make an appointment with us

before you break your lease.

Proactive planning, rather than reactive lease breaking, can be the

difference between walking away at minimal or no cost and being on

the hook for hundreds or even thousands of dollars.

Amy is a staff attorney for Student Legal Services. SLS'

column appears biweekly Mondays in the Collegian. Letters and

feedback can be sent to letters@....