Mold / Apartment complex problem (lease, tenant, inspections, house)

[Zombiology]

First off I live in the state of Texas in an apartment.

On July 30th a tenant that was moving out directly above us busted a pipe. Water completely flooded my son's bathroom, our laundry area, our kitchen, and a small part of our dining area that connects with the tenants next door to us. This was on a Saturday. What was done was that the water was shut off and allowed to drip down into our apartment from upstairs and repairs were made to the pipe to allow water usage again and the foam under the carpets was taken out and the carpet itself was to air-dry by fan and sprayed with some anti-molding liquid from a squirt bottle.

There was bubbling on the surface of the walls in my dining room, my son's bathroom, and worst in the laundry room.

Tuesday new foam was put under the carpets. We complained about a smell that was something related to rotten eggs mixed with spoiled milk and dry-wall. We expressed our concerns and asked that a mold specialist come out to take a look. For that entire week we went back to ask about a mold specialist and each time they told us that they were waiting on bids from 3 different companies. When asking if we could schedule our own and have it taken out of rent they told us no, it had to be complex choice.

A week later after consecutive days of complaining about the smell a dehumidifier was put in to help the smell and to help with the apartment being so humid. At the same time this was put in, a man sprayed the walls and carpets with something to help the smell.

Carpets were cleaned as a gesture from the manager of my apartment complex, and the maintenance guy came and patched up the bubbles on all of the walls. Our house seemed back to normal minus the laundry room having an odor every time we opened the doors to it.

^All of this took about 2 weeks.

Last Monday we turned on our washer when suddenly our laundry room floor began to flood. The maintenance guy came to take a look (we thought it was the washer). He took the washer and dryer out to take a look and then began to take off the molding and tore out some of the dry wall. I immediately noticed what looked like black mold on the molding panels and snapped some pictures. The maintenance guy put in a portable fan to let the laundry room dry and told us he'd be back to patch up the hole he had made in our wall. What it turned out was that while we had a TINY leak in our washer that triggered the flooding, there was actually a TON of water still behind the walls in the laundry area. This was all found 9 days after the flooding.

Complained about actually SEEING mold this time to the manager of the complex and she told us a building inspector would be out here today, but after waiting I called up the building inspections and no request was ever made for one to come look at an apartment in our complex. (I had called a building inspector that Friday prior but he couldn't do anything that would physically let him find mold like cutting a hole in the wall. He talked with the office and supposedly told the office he'd do a follow-up. On Tuesday I had made an appointment for Wednesday for them to come back out since I had holes in my wall for them to look at, but the manager told me to go ahead and cancel the appointment because of the supposed follow up that was supposed to take place today. Bottom line, I knew exactly what number to call to verify.)

As well as all of this, my 3 year old son had come down with a bad case of coughing and stuffy nose about 7 hours after the fan was put in to dry the wall in the laundry room (which is also across from his bedroom.) The next day he was worse, and when taken to the doctor a mold test couldn't exactly be given, but he was diagnosed with bronchitis, which my doctor acknowledged could be result of the mold being in the air. Now I, too, am getting sick with the same symptoms.

I'm just at a loss of what to do. Our complex doesn't seem to be doing anything about the mold situation and keeps giving us a run-around with having someone come and take a look at it. It's been a 3 week ordeal, going on 4.

[Ultrarunner]

What do you want to do?

No one can force you to remain in the unit... you obligation is strictly monetary at most.

There are lots of issues surrounding mold... many exaggerated and some not.

I work in a Hospital and seldom has mold been the culprit...

Some things to keep in mind... at least where I live...

It can make a big difference if the water resulted from a potable source or not... Drinking water here is highly treated... temperature is also a factor.

If damage is significant... it may not be practical or desirable to remain during remediation...

Is there another unit available or would you be willing to move if the lease was mutually cancelled?

In my opinion, I do not see how they can prevent you from bringing in your own specialist... the expense might be worth the peace of mind.

[ShaneSA]

I agree with Ulta. You can do several things as said. If the damageis significant I would look at moving to another unit or out of the complex while it is being repaired. The complex could do a faster, easier repair if you were not living there. It could be a bargaining card.