rent house with mold problem, child develops asthma

[rodeo415]

What is the name of your state? CA

house we rented had a terrible mold problem, no fault of our own (even when no rain outside, one room's walls would literally "weep". The adults in the house werent affected, but a child had constant breathing problems. A baby who gre up in the house developed asthma. Landlord "scraped" the mold off every so often.

Recently bought our own home (with no mold!) and the childs problems cleared up immediately. The smaller child still has asthma. She will likely have lifetime problems We're convinced it was because the mold in the rental house. We do have pictures and can still enter the rental house for "inspection/samples"

Is this something worth having an atty pursue or should we just move on with life??

 

[FarmerJ]

The time to make any such complaints was back when you had possession of the rental. You no longer have any right to enter the property. so now any complaints you have are going to be a much harder battle to attempt to prove. Your former LL does not have to allow you in there either.

 

[rodeo415]

i am friends with the LL and the current tenants and can get access at any time, the issue is whether a viable claim can be brought...if the LLs insurer pays for damages the LL wont care anyway

 

[kat1963]

So the landlord, who is a friend of yours isn’t going to care when his policy is cancelled & he can’t get find an insurance company to write a new policy due to mold claim? Mold spores NEVER go away. They just dry out & remain dormant until there is another moisture source. Nor will he will be able to sell the home due to disclosure laws but that’s okay with him as long as you make some money? Even you don't make a dime he will still be cancelled due to the claim. And it's perfectly acceptable that you stayed years in the home witnessing a potential problem but also didn’t discourage friends of yours from renting it either? Your new house has mold, trust me, they all do. If you brought ANY articles from the old house with you to the new home you likely took part of that mold colony with you. There are over 300 varieties of mold, not all of them cause problems, they are just really gross.
KAT

 

[rodeo415]

not everyone has the luxury of living wherever they please. i could not tell my parents or another family what to do with their life choices.

Thanks for your education on mold and HO renewals, but your comments dont answer my legal question. If i wanted advice on the mold or on HO claims I would ask in an appropriate forum. Looks like no one here has an answer.

 

[funkymonkey]

You have been told wrong info here!

Oklahoma- You were told that you have to still be in the house to file a claim, that is not true. You and the current tenant can still file a claim or just you alone. The only question is did you move out on your own or were you evicted out. If you were evicted than you would not have a good leg to stand on. If you left out was your lease up or did you move out for health reasons. I am speaking this because I have a claim going on that has past renters as well as present renters as the plaintiffs. There is a total of eleven of us in all. Six of us are still here and five of us are past renters. As soon as all of our apartments are tested for the air quality from the mold we are all gone. They have tested some of the apartments and the toxic mold has been found but they want to test two more apts. Mine and a family in another part of the complex. When they do, we are all out of here because as you already know the symptoms are miserable!

 

[rodeo415]

The only question is did you move out on your own or were you evicted out. If you were evicted than you would not have a good leg to stand on. If you left out was your lease up or did you move out for health reasons. I am speaking this because I have a claim going on that has past renters as well as present renters as the plaintiffs. There is a total of eleven of us in all. Six of us are still here and five of us are past renters. As soon as all of our apartments are tested for the air quality from the mold we!

no we were not evicted, we moved bc we bought our own house, and bc the rental house did have the mold problem which was making the childrens health worse....

 

[funkymonkey]

First step

Okla- The first thing that you and your friends can do is submit a work order to the owner of the house for a mold test to determine if the mold is toxic. This will have to be done by the renter not you since you moved out all ready. Make a copy of the work order and also get it signed when it is submitted so you will have a copy for proof if you need to take it to court. Chances are that you will not get a mold test but this paper will show that you did notify the landlord that there was a problem. Second step you will need to get a mold test done on your own by a licensed mold tester to proof that there was actually toxic mold present. This is ussually done with an air test. This test is to see high much of the mold spors are air born. This is what will be causing the breathing problems in your family. Mold test are expensive, but you have to have one to proof your case. Keep all your pictures and take more of any thing you can find wrong with the property. If your landlord has the financial backing to make this case equatible speak to an enviromental lawyer they may front the mold test. Our lawyer did this in our case. In the case that I am part of, it cost us $1,800.00 per apartment for test. The mold tester is testing 3 apartments for the air quality. I am pretty sure this price is over priced due to it being a big law suit. When we first was checking into mold test we were getting quotes around $600 - $650. The next thing you have to ask your self is there a medical record of actual damages that can be related straight to the mold. Have to have proof! All of you will need to be tested. Like you already know, Children will be the most effected. A diary of any times you were effected in any way will also be helpful. Any over the counter med. that you purchased to self treat yourself with. All of this will play into the suit. If you don't think that you have enough to go on for a full blown out lawsuite another option you might consider would be to sue for unearned rent. A landlord has to provide a healthy and safe place. A place mold infested is not healthy or safe. Check into your state laws on unearned rent. You may be entitled to all of your unearned rent to be payed back to you plus your damages. Unearned rent is rent that the landlord was not entitled to so in your case it might mean for the full term of our lease.