Good news and bad news, both at the same time

Hey all, I'm posting this for a number of reasons...I'm hugely anxious about my current situation, but I also thought my story might help others who may go something similar someday.

Some of you might have read my earlier post here where I talked about the simultanoues mould/flooding problem I was having in my apartment. Well, after phoning the city, and telling my landlady that I had done so, she immediately got her husband to show up and fix the flood in my kitchen. It turned out a leaky pipe inside the wall was doing the damage. He fixed it all up quickly, except that he had to get someone else to come in the next day to replace the wall tiles that his plumber removed. So apart from the gaping hole in my kitchen wall, everything was fixed up.

I was glad about that, but still upset that they were not taking the mould problem seriously. Then, late that night, inspiration hit me...why not poke around that hole in the wall? So I pulled back the insulation, and there it was...tons and tons of black mould. It was in the wood, the brick, the insulation...everywhere.

I had found my smoking gun. I immediately took pictures of everything, and got them printed out the next morning. I phoned my landlady and told her that she was caught. Not only was there mould in my apartment, but her husband did not bother to clean it up: either he knew it was there and didn't say anything, or he didn't bother to check even though the leak was on obvious mould hazard. Either way he was hugely negligent, and I had the pics to prove it.

My landlady recognized her bind, and immediately let me out my lease, effective at the end of the month. I got a verbal agreement, but will get her to commit it to writing this week (not that she's going to reneg, and she knows she's in big trouble).

Now the only problem is that I have to pack up my things and find a new place to live...in a big, strange city where I know so few people, and with my wife still stuck at her old job five hours away. Oh, and I have midterm and presentation to do this week, and am basically swamped with schoolwork. I'm thrilled that things resolved themselves so neatly, but scared about what's to come.

Anyway, if anyone is ever caught in a lease in a lousy apartment, try to be persistent. Document problems, take pictures, phone the city, etc. It sounds like a lot of landlords will crack, especially if their negligence has been exposed.

I read your previous post, too, so I am happy for you that you nabbed your landlady and got out of the lease. I'm pulling for you for everything else.

Digdug, glad you found that mold. Get away from it as soon as you can. After the flood here. We had every color mold you could think off. We were told the black mold with the white coming off of it was the worse. Had to wear the painters masks to not breathe it in. Alot of people including me got sick from it all. We got this cough, they nicknamed the Katrina cough, and aching feelings in our joints. If you have that let your doc know. We were givien some kind of medicine to take for about a month. Alot of people still have the cough cause its still in the air down here. The thing is you cant smell it.

Good luck with the landlord. If i was you i'd demand my deposit and all past rental payments back. Plus a visit to the doc to make sure it hasnt gotten into your lungs.

Alot of cleanup to get rid of that. There gonna have to tear out a good portion of that wall if not the whole thing. That crap spreads like wildfire.

hugs
chalmette

Digdug,

I'm really glad that you're able to get out of your lease. Mold is a serious health hazard. I know moving is a pain, but think about how much better you'll feel with it all behind you.

Good luck with the move and school.

---splitimage

Thanks for the support, everyone. Finally got my landlady to sign something officially terminating the lease. She was reluctant to do so, saying that she thought we were "friends", or something. Uh, yeah, I'm not stupid enough to buy that line. She was also hugely ticked that I phoned the city about the kitchen leak. She's a lot craftier than she lets on.

Chalmette, thanks for the medical and legal advice. I'll probably go see a doctor only after I've moved out, since I'll finally be free of this bad air. As for my last month's rent, she was clearly unwilling to give it back to me, which is unfortunate for her, because now I'm really in the mood to stick it to these people.

I'll tread lightly, making sure my lease if in fact officially broken, but I think I'll now make sure the other tenants of this house know about the mould problem (which she denied, by the way, even after I showed her the pictures I took). One of them has a child, so it's probably the right thing to do anyway.

Also, my heart goes out to all those people who had to deal with such issues along the Gulf coast. I was reading a lot of stories on-line while I was researching this issue, and it just sounds awful what a lot of people went through. You have my sympathies.