Even though we know that mold exists everywhere around us, having excess amounts of it in our homes or workplaces can be hazardous to our health and should be taken care of as soon as it is noticed. If you are renting an apartment or a house and discover a mold issue on the property, you need to take this up with your landlord as soon as possible. There are a number of rights that a renter has and being guaranteed a safe and sanitary living space is most certainly one of them.
As long as the mold issue was not caused by you, your landlord is responsible for having any removal done. You can also hold the landlord responsible for any medical bills that you may incur due to being exposed to the mold, but depending upon your relationship with your landlord, having them take care of the problem may be enough for you.
If your landlord has been good to you throughout the course of your stay on his or her property and you wish to continue renting from them after the incident is over, it could be in your best interest to not cause too much trouble over the issue. If you feel that your landlord has neglected the property and has allowed it to fall into disrepair and has repeatedly ignored your request for maintenance and mold removal, then seek the maximum the law will grant you under the circumstances. You should seek the compensation that is right for your situation.
The first thing that you need to do, no matter how much you trust your landlord, is send him or her a certified letter stating that mold exists on the property along with proof of this. You can obtain this proof most easily by performing a do-it-yourself mold testing kit and sending in the results or you can hire a mold inspector to look at the property.
If you do not receive a response from your landlord, a second letter should be sent in the same manner and state that you will withhold your rent until the matter is solved. This should get the reaction that you want, but sometimes even this is not enough.
The last thing that you need to do if you do not feel that your landlord has responded in a timely fashion is to send yet another certified letter and state your intent to move and bring legal action within a certain amount of days unless the problem is taken care of immediately. At this point, charging your landlord for any medical bills you may have incurred that are directly related to mold exposure is completely ethical and acceptable.
If you are now or have ever had to rent a place to live instead of owning for whatever reason, then you know that usually you are subject to the rules of the owner to a certain extent. You may not be allowed to have children or pets and if you do you could be subject to have to pay a larger or separate deposit for them. You may or may not be allowed to make changes to the property such as painting walls or even planting anything outside. When you damage anything while you live there it will either be your responsibility to pay to have it fixed or you will have to forfeit your security deposit. You could even be taken to court if the damage is severe enough.
What about the rights that a renter might have? Well, they can vary from state to state. The owner should also have a certain responsibility that they should have to fulfill too. Many times you will get a lease or agreement from the owner that entails all the things you are liable for, but it might not include anything that owner will have to be responsible or liable for. A good example of this would be mold infestation.
There is a lot of information going around about mold and concern about all the adverse affects that it can have on the health of humans and even pets. When was the last time you rented a house or an apartment and there was a clause in the agreement or lease that said the owner would be responsible for your medical bills or temporary housing if mold was found in the residence you rented from them? Sometimes the papers might say that the owner will be responsible for certain upkeep of the property such plumbing or yard maintenance, but not anything like mold.
This is changing in some states and owners are being held accountable if their rented residence has mold due to issues like leaking plumbing or roof problems. It still might be hard to get them to pay for any medical bills that stem from the mold because it might be hard and expensive for you to prove. If you are renting a place from someone and it has mold, the owner should fix the problem immediately.
If they hesitate or refuse to have the mold remedied, you contact your local housing authority to see what can be done. If it proves to be too much trouble, maybe just moving would be a good idea. You do not want to rent from someone who has so little consideration for you and your family anyway, but make sure there is a record of your complaint somewhere so that the next tenants might be aware of the problem before they move in.
Both Jim Corkern & Aydan Corkern are contributors for EditorialToday. The above articles have been edited for relevancy and timeliness. All write-ups, reviews, tips and guides published by EditorialToday.com and its partners or affiliates are for informational purposes only. They should not be used for any legal or any other type of advice. We do not endorse any author, contributor, writer or article posted by our team.
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