Black Mold

[Rockporter]

Worth, according to the Texas Attorney General

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/cpd/tenant-rights

This is a portion of what is at this link above.

Under Texas law, it is illegal for a landlord to retaliate against you for complaining in good faith about necessary repairs for a period of six months from the date you made such a complaint. Of course, you can always be evicted if you fail to pay your rent on time, threaten the safety of the landlord or intentionally damage the property.


You do not have a right to withhold rent because the landlord fails to make repairs when the condition needing repair does not materially affect your health and safety. If you try this method, the landlord may file suit against you.


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Because mold is a health issue you can withhold your rent. I would be making reports and withholding rent. If that meant I would have to move I would do it in a heartbeat. These landlords who think you should live in an unhealthy environment should be strung up and left for 30 days in their unhealthy properties without the ability to go anywhere.

[carolyn137]

Originally Posted by bower

Too right, Carolyn the common aspergillus is not a harmful mold. But I believe the toxin producing types are encouraged by bleach treatments, where it has occurred as a house mold (instead of a ho hum bread mold). That is just based on things I read probably 20 years ago and maybe a few more things when I did mycology also more than 15 y ago!

It's interesting to see what crops up on the mold mats when you leave them too long... tells me what's going on in my environment. Penicilliums are king here. So smelly.

Smelly Penicilliums? Perhaps but when I think of Penicilliums I'm thinking the band and good ones and here's a Google search I did a couple of days ago.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Peni...&bih=815&dpr=1

I always remembered the good one,the one that produces penicillin, as P.notatum, but I was wrong, they changed the name to a new one I'd never heard of.

During my years of teaching Microbiology, now with DNA snips available there have been many name changes.

The one I remember best was Aerobacter aerogenes which got changed to Enterobacter aerogenes.

Carolyn

[bower]

Originally Posted by carolyn137

Smelly Penicilliums? Perhaps but when I think of Penicilliums I'm thinking the band and good ones and here's a Google search I did a couple of days ago.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Peni...&bih=815&dpr=1

I always remembered the good one,the one that produces penicillin, as P.notatum, but I was wrong, they changed the name to a new one I'd never heard of.

During my years of teaching Microbiology, now with DNA snips available there have been many name changes.

The one I remember best was Aerobacter aerogenes which got changed to Enterobacter aerogenes.

Carolyn

I don't know what species is common here, but it is a blue one and very common here in the woods. I used to burn wood for heat, so got acquainted with the molds that grow on firewood (especially birch) when I was doing that myco course, only to genus though as we didn't have keys to take us to species. I thought all the Pennicilliums produced penicillin, but I guess not so. It would be easy to 'grow your own' on a wet stack of birch, if it is one of those.
Yes things are sure different these days. I got tired of them changing the names of the mushrooms I eat. Too hard to remember name changes, pet names will do. Some things turned out to be not related at all, when they looked at DNA.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by Rockporter

Worth, according to the Texas Attorney General

https://www.texasattorneygeneral.gov/cpd/tenant-rights

This is a portion of what is at this link above.

Under Texas law, it is illegal for a landlord to retaliate against you for complaining in good faith about necessary repairs for a period of six months from the date you made such a complaint. Of course, you can always be evicted if you fail to pay your rent on time, threaten the safety of the landlord or intentionally damage the property.


You do not have a right to withhold rent because the landlord fails to make repairs when the condition needing repair does not materially affect your health and safety. If you try this method, the landlord may file suit against you.


---------


Because mold is a health issue you can withhold your rent. I would be making reports and withholding rent. If that meant I would have to move I would do it in a heartbeat. These landlords who think you should live in an unhealthy environment should be strung up and left for 30 days in their unhealthy properties without the ability to go anywhere.

What I stated was not from the web it was from memory of reading a Texas real estate law book in the 80's.
Laws change from time to time and states differ on the law.
from what I have heard but no way of knowing it is real or not some are way in favor of the landlord.

Another thing I have noticed around here home owners seem to look down their noses at renters.

Worth

[bower]

Here is a link specific to Wisconsin:

https://www.dhs.wisconsin.gov/mold/tenantlandlord.htm

Local health authority and/or building inspector can be called on to confirm the problem and recommend a remedy. This is no cost to the tenant, and really necessary where the landlord disagrees about the cause of the excess moisture. If experts agree it is the attic vent issue, then he will be ordered to fix it. If it is moisture and spores that accumulated because of the leaking roof, they may be ordered to correct that too, and how to go about it.

Advice is to consult a lawyer before withholding rent.

[MissS]

Thanks for all of the help being offered. It's all very good advise and much appreciated.

I have spoken to another tenant who also is having problems (I think that we all here do) and we are going up into the attic on Monday to take pictures. We will then put in writing that we request the landlord to address this. At least then we will have some documentation that there really is an issue up there and that it is not 'our' fault.

I do have a dehumidifier and so do the people downstairs. I bought mine a few years ago because of the mold.

[Worth1]

Just last Wednesday a lady in Austin filed a lawsuit on her land lord over black mold in her rental house they wouldn't fix.
Several million dollars.

Worth

[MissS]

I would never be that lucky! Do you have a link to the story?

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by MissS

I would never be that lucky! Do you have a link to the story?

Here it is it just came out so not everyone is on board, I heard about it this morning on talk radio.

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=...NhpI-lS3BPyU6C

[MissS]

Thanks Worth, you are a gem.

[Worth1]

Originally Posted by MissS

Thanks Worth, you are a gem.

Your welcome.
I had a horrible landlord that sucked every dime I made and I was starving and the house wasn't being fixed.
Sewer mud coming up from the bathtub drain.
The one before it was a lady that let me redo the house and take it out of the rent.
That rent I might add was 200 a month back when everything else was 600 or more in the 80's.
I knew I was hosed when the bad land lord fixed a leaky rotten sink drain with duct tape.

[Rockporter]

Originally Posted by MissS

Thanks for all of the help being offered. It's all very good advise and much appreciated.

I have spoken to another tenant who also is having problems (I think that we all here do) and we are going up into the attic on Monday to take pictures. We will then put in writing that we request the landlord to address this. At least then we will have some documentation that there really is an issue up there and that it is not 'our' fault.

I do have a dehumidifier and so do the people downstairs. I bought mine a few years ago because of the mold.

Please wear mask, safety glasses, gloves, long sleeves and pants when you go up in there. Don't disturb the dust if at all possible just go onto the ladder and take pictures from there. Your health is more important.

[MissS]

Thank you for your concern Rockporter. I will just be staying on the ladder because there is no floor, just rafters up there. I will have a mask and gloves as well. I'm thinking it's going to be BAD up there.

[Rockporter]

Originally Posted by MissS

Thank you for your concern Rockporter. I will just be staying on the ladder because there is no floor, just rafters up there. I will have a mask and gloves as well. I'm thinking it's going to be BAD up there.

Sounds like a good plan to me. Be careful.

[dustdevil]

A 30% solution of common vinegar to water will kill black mold. Inhaling black mold is a health hazard!