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Mold Issues?
I live in an apartment complex, and the apartment above mine decided to overload their washer, causing massive leaking from my ceiling. I have come to notice than when my one year old son and I are home, we are very congested, but when we leave, within minutes, our noses are clear and we can breath just fine again. I have spoken to the maintenance man about the possibility of their being mold, but EVERY time I bring this up "Oh you don't know what mold looks like. It ain't mold" I had lived in an apartment before this one, where there was NO ventilation system installed in the restroom, and yes, I dealt with black mold before. I know what it looks like, and what effects it has on me. I was mostly wondering, what organization would I get a hold of to hopefully get this situation properly taken care of? I am worried about my sons health, and speaking with the buildings management seems to do me no good. I can't move out because I can't afford to break the lease and to find a new place to live on my salary. Any and all help is greatly appreciated. For easier references, I live in the state of Indiana, and my apartment is supposedly owned by the IRS, so they say. Thank you for your time.
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Maybe give some free advice about: Cleaning?
I think because of the mold and improper ventilation you are having this problem. Talk with the person who lives above your apartment and call a HVAC service old bridge technician [Link](Mouse over link to see full location) for doing proper ventilation in your apartment.
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Why don't you speak to the person who stays in the above apartment and tell him/her about your problem.
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Find out if there is really a management company that runs the complex and contact them. You don't want to take a risk on your child. Even make a call to the Health Dept and see if what that complex is doing is sanitary. The health of your child is most important here. Don't ever forget that
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Well have you reviewed your lease agreement? Most leases will tell you what matience will be obligated to go see. I suggest go to a lawyer and have him just go threw your lease agreement and tell him your problem he will see if there is something legally you can do. Im not from that state therefore i dont know how the laws work there. Unfortunately if the lawyer cant find a way due to your agreement you might have to pay out of pocket to a company that deals specifically with mold and such. Best of luck hope my info was helpful
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That is a good question. I'm not in a place where I can research this for you. As soon as I am, I will get back to you. It should be no later than tomorrow.
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Oh my gosh im so sorry you have to go through that. Im not much of an expert on this stuff but you can try looking up mold removal services in your area. I just tried to, I got this number 877-877-9744. You can try that, im sorry im not that much help. But good luck,i live in an apartment complex too and its so much aggravation living here so ik what youre going through, im really sorry. And i hope your son feels better soon!
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I'm sorry to hear that your landlord isn't probably looking into this for you. Mold is definitely not something to mess around with. One thing I would recommend is possibly sending your landlord a letter stating your complaints and that you would like them to be looked into, so that if you have to take legal action in the future, you will have documentation that you tried to get your landlord to look into the situation. Otherwise, it may help to contact your local health department. If they can't help you, they should at least be able to direct you in the right direction. If the problem persists, I would recommend contacting an attorney.
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When you signed the lease, there should have been a section about upkeep done by the building management. If you still have a copy of your lease, go through and see what it says about a situation like this. Because the management isn't doing anything about it, you can get in touch with the city or town officials. They aren't holding up their end of the lease which is a violation of the landlord/tennant contract. You could also have an outside source come in for you and investigate the area and get the confirmation from a professional that it is mold. If management still doesn't take care of it, you can she them and probably end up with a decent amount of money. It is a major health risk so I would get on top if this right away. Best of luck!
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Unless you make your rent check out to the IRS then I strongly doubt they are your landlords. You can probably find out who owns your building at your local courthouse. In most states it is a matter of public record. Unless you actually see mold it might be a little tricky to get anything done about it. Your local health department should be able to point you in the right direction and possibly even send an inspector out to have a look. If mold is found and your landlord refuses to take steps to remove it, you have grounds to break your lease, however you might have to take legal action. Some states offer this service free to low income families.Please try to get this taken care of ASAP. If black mold is indeed present it could pose a very serious threat to your one year old. Good luck.
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You can try to clean the mold yourself. Bleach is the most effective solution. It both kills the mold and spores and removes the black colour. If it is on the ceiling it may be harder to clean. There are some bleach cleaners that spray a foam and will stick to the ceiling. I personally like Flash with Bleach but it may not be available where you are.
That said, the most common cause of allergy in the home are dust mites. They are the most common allergy overall, almost all homes have dust mites, and they are present all year round. Do you have carpet? You might consider having the carpet cleaned, washing bedding more frequently, and replacing old pillows.
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Realistically, if water leaked causing mold to grown in the spaces between their floor and your ceiling, there's probably no way to get at that mold to treat it and get rid of it. Whenever you spray mold killer on your ceiling, there'll always be a chance of it coming back. So constant cleaning up is going to be the least expensive cost to the owners of the complex. I know that tearing up your ceiling and re-doing it is probably going to be more expense than they want to commit to.
If you still want to talk to someone, A maintenance man isn't high enough to be the final say. You need to speak to the managers or get a contact name and phone number from the manager for the building owners.
I used to live in an apartment that was half way beneath ground level since I was bottom apt in a building that sat on a slope. We lived with black mold growing in one of the corners of the wall that was mostly underground. There was nothing the owners could do to fix that. So we used mold killer. The fumes of that chemical are not good to breathe so have a neighbor or family member have your child while you spray the area, being sure to do so from an angle, not directly beneath as you dont want any mist falling on you. Spread news paper to catch any drippings off the ceiling that might make bleach marks on the carpeting or furniture. Get into a habit of regularly airing out the apt. Doors and window open. Put your hats and mittens on if necessary but let the place air out for a 1/2 hour once a week. If that doesn't help, do it more frequently.
One last thing that may or may not help. During a heavy rain flooding season, I saw the maintenance man carrying a piece of equipment to a neighboring apt. I asked what it was. A de-humidifier for the apt that flooded a little. The complex owned such a machine cus a couple apts in other building were prone to flooding in extreme rainfall periods. He placed the unit in there and it would pull moisture out of the air into a container which he emptied, checking on it regularly. Although I had no flooding, I suspected the air in our apt was very moist all the time due to its location and I had a baby a few months old. I was concerned for her because of our constant mold issue and told him so. I asked to use it when he was done and he delivered it to me. I had it continually for weeks on end and after a couple of hours had a container of about a gallon of water to pour down the drain, only to find if full again a couple hours later. Day after day. We had a warmer apt and the mold didnt grow back as fast doing that.
If your apt complex owns such a machine, you might ask to borrow it to see if there is enough moisture from the ceiling affecting the air in your apt. I'm sorry but I don't know of agencies that help apt. dwellers with the living conditions or unfair treatment from management/owners.
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