Mold

[Potshot]

What is the name of your state? IL

Hello. Keep your sarcasm in check. PLEASE>
I live with 5 sons, who are teens. We LIVE in a housing authority owned home.
We have a BIG mold problem, with the housing aware of it. Has been for 2 years and does nothing . The house needs new windows, roof to stop mold growth.
I feel sick alot. My kids seem to act silly and hyper. Sometimes headaches.
I dont move as I dont want to be homeless or in a homeless shelter. I am trapped here with potential toxic mold. My kids and I want to get tested.
Where can
A) I get someone to come test the mold
B) Does the housing have to move us to a safe home. Or expenses incurred at a hotel while the problem is being fixed. The walls inside are surely covered in mold
C) Can I sue them if I am sick, my boys are sick. HOUSING KNOWS ABOUT MOLD PROBLEM FOR 2 YEARS>
D) Can I make them put us in another home, and should I have somone (at my expense) come test the mold, test the air quality. Housing wont do it.
E) Yeah, I know I am stupid. But better to live here than NOWHERE> I cant afford any house over 400 a month. Period. No way Not with 5 kids and me.
F) What are my EXACT rights?

Please no smart comments or slams just for being poor and living in housing. Thats what its for.
I want help. I need help and our health and minds are at risk. This house is a nice home, in a nice neighborhood. It is worth staying at, if possible. All I know is I may be killing us by living here. Is the HOUSING AUTH> responsible for our home to be safe, and sanitary. Mold is everywhere. I kill it, it grows back. We have battled it for 2 years. I am sick of it. Please advise me of our rights.

 

[Cvillecpm]

If the home is ACTUALLY owned by a housing authority/semi-government entity, they are probably EXEMPT from most IL landlord-tenant laws/rules

A) I get someone to come test the mold * you can but a test kit yourself or call the health dept

B) Does the housing have to move us to a safe home.
They may be exempt.

Or expenses incurred at a hotel while the problem is being fixed. Probably not

The walls inside are surely covered in mold. Mold remediation is a specialized trade and there are specific rules workmen must follow.

C) Can I sue them if I am sick, my boys are sick.
Probably not. There is a law called soverign immunity which prevents government officials/entities from lawsuits.

HOUSING KNOWS ABOUT MOLD PROBLEM FOR 2 YEARS. Which tells me they don't care.

D) Can I make them put us in another home, and should I have somone (at my expense) come test the mold, test the air quality. Housing wont do it.
Yes - you pay for the test by a certified mold remediation co.

E) Yeah, I know I am stupid. But better to live here than NOWHERE. I cant afford any house over 400 a month. Period. No way Not with 5 kids and me.
I disagree with your thinking. Your and your kids health are much more important.

F) What are my EXACT rights? You should start by calling the health department and then your local legal aid for the specific options that are available to you.

 

[kdavis921]

Mold Issues

My boyfriend and I are currently going through the same sorta situation. We sublease through someone who we live with, so he is "acting landlord" we've told him about the mold, done mold tests, shown him proof of the mold, and still will not do anything to rectify the problem. I have been getting migraines lately, and EVERY morning, and throughout the day, both my boyfriend and I blow our noses, and there is almost everytime blood present. That is actually why I am here on this site. I came looking for advice...

Isaac and I signed an agreement with our roommate/"landlord" stating we would give him 30 days notice to move, and he would give the same courtesy to us. That, was before we discovered the mold problem. Now that we know its there, we've had to move to the downstairs bedroom, and our roommate thinks that that is going to solve the problem, but he obviously doesn't understand that mold spreads and is also airborne.

SOO...This is what I have been told to do so far...And we are taking it one step at a time trying to make sure everything is right, and in good standing. We write the landlord (in our case-our roommate since he is acting landlord) a letter letting him know there is mold in the house-(even though we've already told him) have it notarized with our bank. If nothing is done within 48 hours of that, then we get a lawyer. After that, its outta our hands. The lawyer will fight for us, and get our money back and hopefully pay any expenses and/or doctors bills that we have incurred. If I were you, since you live in a goverment building I would write a letter, notarize it, and if nothing happens, go to your local health department. Or at least talk to a lawyer. But like everyone says, You're health is most important, as well as your kids, and if you have been living with mold for two years now, you need to get that taken care of, cause if it gets so bad it could really affect you and your children.