Cloudburst2000
New Member
- Jurisdiction
- Kentucky
A friend of mine recently moved into a new apartment building. She moved in around March. These were brand new apartments, and are supposed to be 'high end' apartments. Her rent is cose to $1000/month. She recently discovered mold in a closet so she contacted the front office. They sent maintenance who blamed my friend for the mold issue saying she was dirty. She is actually a neat freak so this claim is absurd.
This all started about a month go. The complex told her to clean the apartment from top to bottom which she did but mold came back within a day and has spread throughout the apartment. The complex refuses to hire a mold expert or do anything about the problem but blame my friend.
My friend moved out due to the mold issue. The apartment is still making her pay rent. My friend then hired her own mold expert to check out the apartment. He said the mold is a building/construction issue and not due to the tenant. He also told my friend that everything left in the apartment has to be trashed (all her new furniture, clothes, etc) so she is out several thousand dollars there also...and living back with her parents. The apartment complex also wants her to pay damages...for something an expert says is THEIR fault.
The mold guy says her walls have high moisture levels and that the baseboards are covered in mold so moisture is being pulled up from under the building which is where the mold problem is coming from. The maintenance guys are STILL blaming my friend and claiming that she must have poured water around all the baseboards to try to make it seem like it is a building problem! The apartment complex told her renter's insurance that the mold is a tenant created issue even though the mold expert said it was a building issue. He also sent his report to the renter's insurance but they still won't pay for her destroyed belongings. And through all of this, the apartment complex STILL refuses to hire their own mold expert.
I personally think they KNOW the issue is their fault but don't want to admit to it because of all the money they could stand to lose. There are over 20 apartments in her complex alone. If all the rents are around $1000, they could stand to lose, at least, $20,000/month if the building is deemed unihabitable. The mold guy says that if they don't do something about the issue then it will likely spread to other apartments.
The apartment complex also threatened her with legal action if she mentioned the mold problem to any other tenants. She had told her neighbors and they expressed concern to the management and then the management threatened my friend with legal action...I think defamation or something. What should she do now since the apartment complex is refusing to hire ANYONE with mold knowledge and are blatantly ignoring the one mold expert who says the mold issue is a building issue and not a tenant issue. Right now, she is still paying rent even though she can't live there...mold grows back almost as soon as it is cleaned. It is EVERYWHERE. Is this the time to hire a lawyer? I assume the apartment complex would be responsible for replacing her furniture/clothes and paying her back the rent they are still forcing her to pay. Thanks for any advice.
This all started about a month go. The complex told her to clean the apartment from top to bottom which she did but mold came back within a day and has spread throughout the apartment. The complex refuses to hire a mold expert or do anything about the problem but blame my friend.
My friend moved out due to the mold issue. The apartment is still making her pay rent. My friend then hired her own mold expert to check out the apartment. He said the mold is a building/construction issue and not due to the tenant. He also told my friend that everything left in the apartment has to be trashed (all her new furniture, clothes, etc) so she is out several thousand dollars there also...and living back with her parents. The apartment complex also wants her to pay damages...for something an expert says is THEIR fault.
The mold guy says her walls have high moisture levels and that the baseboards are covered in mold so moisture is being pulled up from under the building which is where the mold problem is coming from. The maintenance guys are STILL blaming my friend and claiming that she must have poured water around all the baseboards to try to make it seem like it is a building problem! The apartment complex told her renter's insurance that the mold is a tenant created issue even though the mold expert said it was a building issue. He also sent his report to the renter's insurance but they still won't pay for her destroyed belongings. And through all of this, the apartment complex STILL refuses to hire their own mold expert.
I personally think they KNOW the issue is their fault but don't want to admit to it because of all the money they could stand to lose. There are over 20 apartments in her complex alone. If all the rents are around $1000, they could stand to lose, at least, $20,000/month if the building is deemed unihabitable. The mold guy says that if they don't do something about the issue then it will likely spread to other apartments.
The apartment complex also threatened her with legal action if she mentioned the mold problem to any other tenants. She had told her neighbors and they expressed concern to the management and then the management threatened my friend with legal action...I think defamation or something. What should she do now since the apartment complex is refusing to hire ANYONE with mold knowledge and are blatantly ignoring the one mold expert who says the mold issue is a building issue and not a tenant issue. Right now, she is still paying rent even though she can't live there...mold grows back almost as soon as it is cleaned. It is EVERYWHERE. Is this the time to hire a lawyer? I assume the apartment complex would be responsible for replacing her furniture/clothes and paying her back the rent they are still forcing her to pay. Thanks for any advice.
