I have lived in our apartment for about 10 months, in this period my son has had pneumonia, bronchitis and some slight asthma issues, but throughout we have had leaks of different kinds such as water comes through our air vent in the bathroom when it rains and through the ventilation fan. Our a/c is outside but there is also a unit in our kitchen behind a door which has been installed backwards and no filter has ever been put in, this has leaked and leaked running water all over.
After contacting the landlord over and over he finally sent someone to repair it but it never got repaired right, they had to change the lienolium but pulled the old up and put new down using a fan to spread the mold everywhere. I got a mold test and it showed black mold(stachybotrys) and memnoniella toxic molds along with 4 other molds.
I tested because I kept feeling sick before they ever changed the lienolium like I had the flu. I still feel that way, hurt all over, sick headaches, sore throat, heavy menstrual cycles which I never had before. They just put the lienolium on top of the mold. Our bathroom has it too around the top of the walls, and there are 3 layers of lieunolium in the bathroom where they just keep covering it up.
I am scared for my family. If I say anything else to the landlord about this he is the type of person that would find some reason to throw us out, we pay our rent on time every month. We cannot right now afford to move. This place probably needs to be shut down but alot of people would be homeless..what can I do? Do i just try to move but it may be 6 months.. Do I sue? please help..my husband has been coughing up phlegm and my daughter doesn’t have the energy she use to have.. we feel stuck!
Questions:
What do we do? What is our next step?
2 comments
Wendy, you and your family are in a tough place right now. My first and strongest suggestion is to make sure that you put all that you’re going through now in perspective. Consider the health you have now and the strong likelihood that the environment you’re in will not contribute to your recovery. Look ahead a few years and ask yourselves where you want to be. The same place? No way.
Homes, jobs, money, cars, all those things can come and go – your health and the health of your family, though, is worth a whole lot more. Look carefully at your options. What could you do to be able to make that move faster? Can you tighten up the budget? Sell something? Ask your husband to take a temporary extra job?
Talk with your husband about your options and make sure you both are on the same page. You guys can beat this. Keep us posted and we’ll do all we can to encourage you and support you as you’re figuring out what to do next.
Dear Wendy, We can offer some temporary help and relief. We offer portable equipment that uses positive pressure to supply treated air that will begin to kill the mold spores in your apartment and give you some relief. It will also greatly improve the overall indoor air quality in your apartment. Jonathan is right, your health is first and foremost but this is an option that may be of some help for you at this time. Please contact me personally. Our website is http://www.airandmoldtech.com. I look forward to hearing from you.