IF I discover basement mold in my rental am I or my landlord responsible?

Question

I discovered mold in my books on a bookshelf and other personal items I stored in the basement and I dont know if I am responsible to replace these items or if it is my landlords responsibility to maintain a moist free environment for my items or if it is my responsibility for having put them there.Should I have access to my basement and ability to store items safely without worrying about this kind of thing from happening?I realize there are health factors involved as well.

Answer 1

Yes, I think your landlord is responsible for maintaining and upkeeping of their property that you are renting. Yes, I also believe you have a right to have good health and to keep your belongings intact and mold free. Mold issues in dewellings are caused by different things, but the most common cause of this are faulty and/or old plumbing pipes. Alot of times, when the building is an older one, the pipes will rust over time and start leaking water. This happend in my inlaw's home and they had to have a plumber completely redo the pipes in their home, and then have someone come and redo the basement bathroom. With them owning their home, they paid for it, but with your case and you being a renter of someone else's property, it is their responsibility to maintain and keep up their property so it's fit for human habitation. Also, it's their job to keep the building up to code. Mold growth can also be caused by other factors, such as the type of cooling system that is being used -for example, swamp coolers are used in drier climates, they use humidity and cold air to cool homes down, this is what we use here in Utah where I live. Or if you are in a humid climate that can sometimes cause it as well.

Because of the location of where the mold is growing -the basement- I would venture to say it's plumbing issues. I would take pictures to document the mold on your belongings and present them to your landlord. Let them know that your items have grown mold and that you know they didn't have mold on them before. Request that he has someone to come and check the pipes in writing, prehaps have your landlord come along or something. I can tell you straight away that it takes a long time -a couple of years- for mold to migrate from being inside of the walls to the other side of the walls and forming on other objects such as books and prehaps clothing. I bet if you were to cut drywall off of the walls, they will be infested, don't do that though cause then you would probably get in trouble for damaging property. Let a professional do that.

Prolonged mold exposure can cause many problems, even if you don't have an allergey for mold. Here's what I found: "The major noninfectious health effects of mold exposure have an immunologic (i.e., allergic) basis. Exposure to mold can sensitize individuals, who then may experience symptoms when re-
exposed to the same mold species. For sensitized people, hay fever-like symptoms and asthma exacerbations are prominent manifestations of mold allergy. Although it is likely that different
mold species have different propensities to cause allergy, current data do not permit a relative ranking of species by risk of creating or exacerbating allergy. In addition, exposure to beta glucans may have an inflammatory effect in the respiratory system.

Prolonged exposure to high levels of mold (and some bacterial species) can produce an immune-mediated disease known as hypersensitivity pneumonitis. Clinically, hypersensitivity
pneumonitis is known by the variety of exposures that can cause this disorder (e.g., farmer’s lung, woodworker’s lung, malt worker’s lung)."

If your landlord does not comply with your request, you can probably look up on the internet or phonebook and call your local city/county government and let them know what's going on, and they can have one of their health inspectors come out and look at the problem. If they find that the code is in violation of health laws, then your landlord will recieve a citation. Just remember to document requests and to keep all documentation in case you have to present your case to court. Hopefully it won't come down to that, I wish you the best of luck.

Answer 2

Basements are inherently damp. Landlords are typically only responsible for visible mold on walls, ceilings and within the structure itself that could present health problems and are related to leaking pipes, etc.

Places like Florida where there is inherent humidity year-round, are likely to have this problem versus the drier northern climates.

Laws vary from state-to-state. I would start by contacting the landlord and explaining the problem and see how they respond. If they say "get bent" then your recourse is likely small claims court. If they make a reasonable effort to resolve the problem (e.g. purchasing a dehumidifier) then you might try to meet them half-way.

Check your rental agreement - it likely has a section covering these types of damages (usually in THEIR favor not yours) and often are listed under something called 'Force Majeur' which tends to mean things out of their control that both parties are held blameless.

Be sure that whatever route you take to document everything - phone calls, conversations, emails, letters, etc. You'll need them if/when you go to court.

Answer 3

It is generally the landlord's responsibility unless he/she can claimed that you accidentally left a window open to let water into the basement and therefore counter you for the damage. Be certain that there aren't evidents of your negligent before taking up with him/her.

Best wishes.

Answer 4

You have renters insurance to replace the items.

As for the mold, there is no proof that mold causes health problems in a healthy person.

Answer 5

they should be checking for mold, so i would say the landlord is responsible

Answer 6

landlord or renters ins

Answer 7

the owner of your home is responsibl..if your not responsible for problem........good luck