Convincing your Florida Landlord to Take Responsibility for Mold

Most property owners know that the consequences of improperly managing a water damage incident and ignoring mold extend far beyond the cost of repairs. Your landlord is required to keep the property in good living condition and fix major problems. If you are aware of a roof leak, pipe leak, sewer back up, flood or mold growth resulting from a water damage incident, don't assume your landlord understands the complexity of this problem.

Drywall and carpet will not dry properly without professional action, including the use of moisture meters to map all damaged areas; removal of wet pads and materials; extraction of water; disinfection with anti-microbials; use of drying fans and dehumidifiers; and post-remediation clearance testing to ensure the air quality is safe. If your landlord did not take proper action immediately, bacteria, viruses and mold could be creating serious health issues for your family, especially in children, and those with compromised immune systems. If you can't communicate with your landlord and agree on a course of action, your landlord could become embroiled in a lawsuit and risk losing his good-paying tenant. Your landlord is also at risk of gaining a costly, bad property reputation. Many dissatisfied tenants are taking their complaints to the internet, posting comments on review boards about the landlord's failure to take responsibility for mold growth. Disparaging comments by renters cast a heavy shadow on the property, making it much more difficult to lease the property. The consequences for inaction are also long range... In order to sell a property, your landlord has a legal obligation to disclose any knowledge of any damage to the structures located on the property due to mold.

With water damage incidents, each passing day without proper treatment increases the chance of structural property damage and health concerns. If the property is not dried out properly, material and structural degradation ensue. Especially in the Florida heat, mold spores that naturally exist in most environments settle on moist materials and blossom in the heat. The renter's personal property is oftentimes destroyed by mold growth and the renter is subject to potential health issues from toxic mold.

Beware of landlords performing mold remediation themselves or sending an unlicensed handyman, as inexperienced repairmen could cause even greater health hazards than if no work was done at all. Because mold is dangerous, destructive and complex, the State of Florida requires all mold remediators to be educated, licensed and insured. It is the tenant's right to know the license number of the mold assessor or mold remediator that works in his home. In Florida, you can check the validity of the contractor's license online with the Florida Department of Business and Regulation, Licensing Division.

If you suspect a problem, notify your property owner immediately, in writing, with a specific call to action for repair, mold testing or mold removal. If at all possible, hand-deliver this notification or send by certified mail. The sooner you start documenting your mold problem, the sooner your problem will receive the attention it deserves.

If your landlord does not respond adequately to your call to action or is not supportive of your claim, the best course of action is to quickly and thoroughly examine your lease and document your valid reasons for breaking the lease. The key to persuading your landlord to break your lease is the strength of the documentation that you present. If you cannot reach an agreement with your landlord, you may need to secure legal aid, in which case you will also need as much documentation as possible. The stronger your case, i.e. your documentation, the less likely it is that you will need to hire an attorney. Keep a journal of visible indicators or possible health symptoms that may be attributable to the water damage incident. Include information about remediation efforts that the landlord has taken, if any, and document evidence about how these efforts have failed to alleviate the problem. Take date-stamped photos that show moisture, material degradation or mold. Consider the cost of living in a mold-infested environment, or breaking a lease without due cause, and you may find it's worth the money to pay for a comprehensive mold investigation as further documentation for your landlord.

QCI Mold Inspections, Home Inspections and Remediations LLC is Florida-licensed to perform comprehensive mold investigation services, including moisture surveys and air quality testing services. We perform this investigation in order to document the cause of the intrusion, the symptoms of the intrusion, and the most effective course of action for remediation. We use several non-invasive diagnostic tools to find not only the obvious water intrusions, but also hidden sources of water intrusion and mold. Many times, multiple sources contribute to mold growth.

QCI uses the thermal imaging camera, which allows us to quickly scan large areas and find areas that are holding excess moisture. We use pin-type moisture meters, which penetrate the surface of building materials to read moisture content, and scanning moisture meters to detect water up to six inches below hard surfaces, such as concrete and tile. Our laser particle counter quantifies the number of dust, mold, allergen and other particles in an air sample. A particle counter sample that shows a high count of 3-5 microns could be an indicator of hidden mold, since mold spores are typically within 3-5 microns. These diagnostic tools, together with a verbal history and visual inspection, assist QCI in making a recommendation for the type of air quality testing needed to determine if mold exists.

QCI captures air samples and sends them to a certified independent testing lab for analysis. The lab reads the results and provides a detailed report within 3-4 business days by email. Typically, air sampling costs $365.00 for one indoor air sample and one outdoor control sample. In some instances, a determination can be made on visible mold through the use of non-invasive diagnostic tools and a tape sample. The cost of an assessment using the tape sample method is $200. QCI provides its diagnostic moisture investigation for free with the purchase of air quality testing.

Once you have collected personal documentation, knowledge about the terms of your lease, photo documentation, medical-related information, and perhaps the results of QCI's moisture investigation and mold assessment, you can then make a case to your landlord. If mold spore counts are significantly elevated, it will be of medical necessity that your landlord provide mold remediation. You may ask your landlord to reimburse you for medical expenses and perhaps even pay for property damaged by mold or water damage. Depending upon the severity of the mold, especially in environments that have significantly-elevated mold spore counts, you can request that your landlord not only remediate the area, but provide temporary shelter during the remediation, or release you from the lease.

Armed with personal documentation, facts, and QCI's specific data about the level and type of mold that exists in the environment, you are more likely to persuade your landlord to remediate or release you from the lease. Of course, when your landlord releases you from the lease, be sure the release is valid, i.e. specific, written, dated, and signed by both tenant and landlord.