New Mold in Rental Apartment

[Guest guest]

I moved out of my moldy house in the Chicago suburbs a year ago.

After a time, I rented an expensive nice apartment.

During September, the basement of the building (where the parking

garage is) got totally flooded as a result of the torrential Chicago

rains. Some of the water got in the elevator and into the first floor.

A mold problem with an odor has developed. I am very sensitized to

poison mold and now cannot enter the building. I've moved elsewhere.

My husband, who is also somewhat sensitive to mold, is living there

for the time being but wants to move out.

I contacted the management, and they were adamant that they were not

going to let me out of the lease even for a penalty.

Their comment was, " You say that there's mold in the building and I

say there's not. " This was from a guy who admitted he'd not even been

in the building to check it out, and wasn't going to send anyone to

look into it.

There are a lot of apartments on the market in Chicago now (due to a

lot of people renting the houses that they can't sell), and it seems

these people are determined to get as much money as they can out of us.

They don't want to try to get someone else it because they have

another unit in the building that they want to rent out first so that

they have full occupancy.

There are six months left on the lease. At $2k per month, that adds up.

Does it seem that a letter from a lawyer might help?

If so, what kind of lawyer should I contact?

Does anyone have any other suggestions?

Thanks!

[Guest guest]

,

I don't live in Chicago, I live in Florida, however, I have had opportunity to

call the state.

Doesn't Illinois or the city of Chicago have a state or local agency to protect

the rights of

tenants?

The wording I found in Florida is the landlord must provide an " environmentally

safe " place

for the tenant to live.

If you can smell the mold, it may be worth your money to invest in some mold

testing so

you will have documentation that the building has mold. If your local agency

has the

same type of wording, etc., then the landlord is NOT providing you with an

environmentally safe place to live and you can prove it.

If all else fails, I would still invest in the mold testing and simply place the

results along

with a note on EVERY door of all apartments in the building to gain support from

other

renters.

Maybe they will let you out of the lease just to get you to go away....... It'

worth a try.

>

> I moved out of my moldy house in the Chicago suburbs a year ago.

> After a time, I rented an expensive nice apartment.

>

> During September, the basement of the building (where the parking

> garage is) got totally flooded as a result of the torrential Chicago

> rains. Some of the water got in the elevator and into the first floor.

>

> A mold problem with an odor has developed. I am very sensitized to

> poison mold and now cannot enter the building. I've moved elsewhere.

>

> My husband, who is also somewhat sensitive to mold, is living there

> for the time being but wants to move out.

>

> I contacted the management, and they were adamant that they were not

> going to let me out of the lease even for a penalty.

>

> Their comment was, " You say that there's mold in the building and I

> say there's not. " This was from a guy who admitted he'd not even been

> in the building to check it out, and wasn't going to send anyone to

> look into it.

>

> There are a lot of apartments on the market in Chicago now (due to a

> lot of people renting the houses that they can't sell), and it seems

> these people are determined to get as much money as they can out of us.

>

> They don't want to try to get someone else it because they have

> another unit in the building that they want to rent out first so that

> they have full occupancy.

>

> There are six months left on the lease. At $2k per month, that adds up.

>

> Does it seem that a letter from a lawyer might help?

>

> If so, what kind of lawyer should I contact?

>

> Does anyone have any other suggestions?

>

>

> Thanks!

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

This sounds like an apartment you absolutely have to get out of. The

building that made me really sick had the basement flooding problem.

If there is water continuously inside of a building (such as in its

basement) the chance of a mold problem goes up tremendously. If it

continues, the insides of the walls will end up being moldy.

This is a situation where you need to get professional testing. But,

first, see if your husband (or you, wearing a P-100 - not an N-95 or

P-95, try to use a P-100 respirator- one with a good seal around the

edges.) can find any visible mold in the basement common areas. Look

for places where the flooding may have come into contact with

sheetrock and the moisture has wicked up into the wall. Or exterior

walls especially ones near heating equipment where there is a large

difference between the temperature inside and outside.

For samples to be used as evidence, some situations require that they

be taken by a third party, not you or your husband. Then they need to

send the samples in to a lab.

First, see if you can easily see some visible mold down in that

basement or elsewhere..

This sounds very much like what I went through.. I could probably give

you a lot of perspective on this situation.

Your landlords probably don't want to let you out of your lease

because they dont want to be on the record as having been notified of

mold. Often, landlords want to pretend they don't know of anything.

You need to write them a registered, short letter, keeping a copy,

telling them in no uncertain terms that the flooding in the building

has created a situation that has left the building uninhabitable for

you and made you sick. Keep it short and to the point. If you can,

show it to a lawyer or post the text here so people here can critique

it.

The crucial issues is to get a formal, undeniable letter on the record

to them of having been notified. State in the letter that you are

expecting a timely response.

On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 12:02 PM, slayadragon <slayadragon@...> wrote:

> I moved out of my moldy house in the Chicago suburbs a year ago.

> After a time, I rented an expensive nice apartment.

>

> During September, the basement of the building (where the parking

> garage is) got totally flooded as a result of the torrential Chicago

> rains. Some of the water got in the elevator and into the first