Pregnant mother battles landlord over mold

[Guest guest]

Pregnant mother battles landlord over mold

Family sick - of and from - mold growing in home, city now involved

By Matt Grant

Thursday, February 05, 2009 at 11:31 p.m.

KRCG Jefferson City Thu, 05 Feb 2009 21:38 PM PST

http://www.connectmidmissouri.com/news/news_story.aspx?id=256415

ELDON -- An Eldon mother says she's fed up with her landlord, and

the mold growing in her house - and now the city's getting involved.

Kathleen Levesque has two young kids with another on the way. What

should be a happy time for her and her family, she says, has been

anything but.

" Immediately it just hit you like a ton of bricks, " she said,

describing the first time she smelled mold after moving in. " The

mold down there is just intense. "

While the smell was there when they moved into their home on

Rollotrend Lane six months ago, Levesque and her husband, , say

the mold was hidden under carpets and inside walls.

" This drywall is breaking apart, " Levesque said while giving a

tour of the basement's bathroom. " This is major mold going on right

here. "

Black mold peppers the basement's white walls - the result of heavy

rains, which made it grow rapidly. A big part of the problem is a

giant crack in the foundation that lets water right in.

'Throw some bleach on it'

Levesque says her landlord has largely ignored her pleas, and has

done little to help.

" He just said 'throw some bleach on it and it'll be fine,' " she

said. " He never came out, never looked at it and never saw what we

were talking about. "

The city's building inspector came on Jan. 23 and cited the house

as " unsafe " and " dangerous to human life " because of mold and

insulation problems. He gave the landlord until Jan. 29 to have all

mold removed by a licensed professional.

Workers did show up, but weren't licensed to remove mold, and ended

up disturbing it.

Monday night the whole family ended up in the hospital, they say

tests confirmed toxic mold was to blame. Medical reports indicate

their 5-year-old son, Owen, got a " cough after mold exposure, " and

that the family " may want to consider alternative living space. "

The mold has made things especially difficult for Owen, who already

had breathing problems, and was using a nebulizer breathing machine

when we visited.

" He's on three different kinds of medications just to live here, "

Levesque said.

While we were filming the workers came back and said they didn't

know about the mold. " It's not bad at all down there, " one worker

said. But after they saw our cameras they left and the landlord, Bob

Seek, called the police to have us removed.

'I think we have this problem all around town'

Legally the family can break their lease, pack up and go. But they

say they don't have the money or the means to do so right now.

" I don't think this is an isolated case, " said Eldon Mayor

Bly. " I think we have this type of problem all around town. "

Bly said he's cracking down on landlords.

" We've hired a new code enforcement officer where we're going to

clean up properties, rental properties, " he said. " Make sure all

properties are inhabitable and safe. "

We took the mayor to see the house firsthand. After meeting with the

family, he said the city will do all they can to help.

" A landlord, their house isn't in this type of condition, " said

Bly. " So how can they expect someone else to have to live under

these conditions? "

Landlord's Response

The landlord, Seek, faxed us a statement saying he will send

repairmen and a mold specialist to treat the problem. The city has

given him 30 more days to fix up the property or the house could be

deemed uninhabitable.

Here is the statement that was sent to us:

" Due to the apparent possibility of litigation I deem it to be in

the best interests of the trust to limit any response concerning 709

Rollotrend. Therefore, no on camera or phone interview is going to

be made. The following factual statement is made:

" The trust has immediately responded to any notification of any

repairs needed or other conditions. A licensed and certified mold

specialist treated the house a few months ago after numerous homes

in Eldon suffered from wet conditions due to an unusually large

rainfall after a period of much rain. He was of the opinion that

mold would no longer be a problem.

" The first notification that mold was again present was by the city

inspector on Friday, January 23. Notification was not made by the

tenants. A contractor was hired to make any necessary or recommended

repairs and began work the work day thereafter. Such repairs will be

completed when he is allowed to work without interference. The mold

specialist will then treat it again.

" It is important to note that the tenant is required under the lease

to immediately notify the trust of any conditions that need

repaired. Without such notification it is difficult to repair a

condition that is not evident from the outside. "

See photosWatch video

Share this:

5 Comments on this StoryPost a comment (+)

Comments are the sole responsibility of the person posting them;

they are not reflective of the views or opinions of Barrington

Broadcasting, KRCG, its directors or employees. If you believe a

comment violates the Barrington Terms of Use, please report it

here.