I found black mold in my apartment?

Question

I live in an apartment in california. Recently I had to have a leak under the kitchen sink fixed. I noticed today the leak came through the walls into the living room and now there is black mold on the living room wall and all under my kitchen sink. I cant find anything about the laws on that in apartments in california. Is the landlord supposed to clean it up??? I am 8 and a half months pregnant and I very worried about it.

Answer 1

According to California renters' rights it sounds like the landlord needs to address the situation.

from California Tenant Law,
"Toxic Mold has gained attention. It can lead to serious lung infections, and often results from landlords' neglect of pipes leaking the walls, leaky roofs, and unsealed [a special coating] walls. New Health and Safety Code 26147 requires the landlord to tell current and prospective tenants about the mold, as well as do something about it as a habitability issue."
http://www.caltenantlaw.com/ResLaw.htm

Answer 2

Mold spores are not good for you or your baby. The problem is that in order to take care of this properly, the walls may have to be torn out and you don't want to be there for that either. I hope that you are in an apartment complex and that there are other apartments there that you can move into. That would be your best solution while your landlord fixes the problem.

P.S. Don't let the landlord do a quick fix of spraying it or wiping it off. Some will try to do things like that. If the water seeped through the wall then the mold is in the wallboard itself and will continue to grow back. Make sure the land lord does a good job there.

Answer 3

Not good, Not good. The spores from mold, etc is damaging. Contact the Manager immediately. The owners can be held liable, if you need to vacate the apt while repairs are done, make sure they paid for it. The problem of the water needs to be found, corrected, the mold needs to be cleaned with bleach (the fumes would harm you), they would need something like Kill Ritz, before repainting. The mold if in your living room, will most likely be in your carpet too. Have it all checked throughly.

Answer 4

make the landlord clean it up. if not get some bleach and water in a spray bottle and douche the walls good. then paint over the mold with KILZ. a stain and mold blocker. found at wal-mart or any home improvement store. the bleach may be to much for you to tolerate being pregnant. I would hire a painter and bill the landlord. less the rent!

Answer 5

I was in the same situation, however I live in Texas. Texas laws want you to send stuff in writing and that is a bunch a crap. I gave them something to chew on literaly! I took a piece of bread collected the mold onto the bread, gave it a few days and reveiled to them the result. They got on it, and months later they let me break the lease and I moved into my house. Home ownership is SWEET! Good Luck though.

Answer 6

Tell your apartment manager. Since you had to get the sink fixed, thats the apartment manager's fault, therefore the mold is their fault to. Talk to the manager, if they wont do anything about it, call a cleaning service and see what they suggest.

Answer 7

You should've had your landlord fix the leak to begin with. It is their responsibility. Nonetheless, you need to have it looked at right away because mold can cause health problems.

Answer 8

Mould isn't necessary a major problem by all means get it checked out but the mould should come of with a bit of warm water & general household cleaner. Report it to your landlord so they are aware of the damage you shouldn't get any repercussions unless the landlord is a bastard.

Answer 9

hi

Answer 10

black mold can be toxic
go to google and type in mold removers and see what pops up
if there is someone in ur area that removes mold call them and see what they can do.