Mold

MET COUNCIL FACT SHEET

Mold in Apartments

Mold got everyone's attention a couple of years ago when a Texas woman won a multi-million dollar lawsuit after she was sickened by mold in her 22 room-mansion because her insurance company failed to pay for proper clean up measures after a flood. While tenants have complained for years about mold-related health problems, big liability awards have prompted government health agencies and insurance companies to take the problem seriously. They now pressure home and building owners to take quick steps to stop mold growth and to clean up existing problems.

What is mold and where does it grow?

Molds produce tiny, invisible spores that float around until they find a good place to grow. There are over one hundred thousand varieties of mold, with over 1,000 common in this country, and their spores are flying around all the time. Many molds are helpful (medicines and cheeses), many harmless, but some are dangerous to humans. When the spores land on a consistently wet surface, they then grow into the musty, mildewy-smelling orange or black yuck that is instantly recognizable as mold. Molds can grow on paper, wood, sheet rock, carpet, plaster, or any other surface that is kept wet or damp. The growths are most common in bathrooms, kitchens, basements, near chronic leaking areas (such as leaking risers and radiators, or roof leaks), and in newer buildings, in air ducts. Mold growths are often a problem after a flood – either from sewage, a bad leak or very wet weather conditions. According to information provided by the federal Environmental Protection Agency, the Centers for Disease Control, and the NYC Department of Health, most common molds that grow in small quantities are harmless for healthy people but obvious mold growths in homes or work places should be cleaned up immediately.

Some molds can be very harmful to humans, especially young children, the elderly, and those with compromised immune systems. Even healthy people can develop severe illnesses and allergies when exposed to large mold growths. Illnesses related to mold growth include allergic reactions (fever, itching, rashes, eye problems, breathing difficulties, etc), asthma, and severe respiratory problems. The Stachybotrys chartarum mold is a particularly nasty one which is not common, but is perfectly suited to apartment buildings and houses with chronic leaks or floods. This greenish-black mold grows on substances with high cellulose content (that is, wall board, sheet rock, and other common building materials)and toxic chemicals released by the mold can, according to some medical experts, cause very serious lung problems.

Tenants in New York City and around the country have complained for years about very severe illnesses, including hemorrhaging lungs, caused by mycotoxins which are chemicals produced by some harmful molds. In large quantities, according to some sources, mold mycotoxins can induce allergies and chronic, severe health problems in previously healthy people. In New York City, tenants have had difficulties getting landlords to effectively abate mold problems. However, thanks to the liability issues, larger and well-insured landlords are more responsive than they once were to complaints about mold. The city’s housing department will record mold growths as “C” class, or immediately hazardous violations. However, tenants continue to report that both the health and the housing departments are not very effective in forcing resistant landlords to both clean up mold growths and to keep the growth away. Tenants in some of New York City’s newer buildings have had severe mold problems either because of carelessly maintained air conditioning/heating duct work or because of uncorrected leaks. Tenants in Phipps Plaza and Hudson Piers, two post-WWII complexes, have complained and sued over very serious mold conditions.

What do you do about mold?

Mold should be cleaned up, according to the NYC Dept of Health, with a mild bleach and water solution by a person who is not allergic or sensitive to the mold. Young children, especially babies, older people, pregnant women and anyone with asthma or other allergic or lung condition should not be involved in or around the mold or the clean up. The cleaning cloths should be discarded, and any thing that had the mold growing on it, such as carpets, curtains, furniture, paper, wall paper, plaster or sheet rock should also be discarded. The city’s health department has clear guidelines for cleaning up mold growths which should be followed. If your landlord is doing the cleanup, make sure his workers follow the guidelines. Obviously, very large growths should be handled by a trained contractor hired by the landlord.

What is the landlord’s responsibility?

Before any cleaning work is done the leak has to be stopped which is, of course, the landlord's responsibility. If the surface being cleaned is going to get wet again, the cleaning will fail to solve the problem. The underlying leak might be leaky risers, roof leaks, outer wall leaks (which require pointing) or have other causes. To be effective, the underlying cause must be identified and fixed. According to government information, once the area is kept consistently dry, the mold problem will go away quickly. Call your landlord and ask her to clear up the problem. If this fails to get immediate action, follow the steps you would take with any serious repair problem:

To report a mold problem in your apartment or common building areas, call the NYC Dept of Health at 311 (or directly to the DOH’s Office of Environmental Investigations at 212/442-3372.) You should also report mold and any chronic leaks from pipes, improperly working drains, or roof leaks, to the NYC Dept. Of Housing, Preservation and Development, Central Complaint at 311.

You should treat mold as you would any serious repair problem. Write a letter to the landlord describing the problem and the steps you have taken to get the problem fixed. (In other words, if you spoke to the super and showed him the mold, include that in your letter.) Be sure to date the letter, keep a copy and send it to the landlord either by certified mail or with a receipt of mailing. You can include the letter with the rent check if it is close to the time you are paying the rent. Share with the landlord information about mold (see below) so the clean up is properly done.

If the landlord fails to act promptly, you can take the landlord to court in an HP Action, file a complaint with the DHCR (complain about reduction in services and ask for a rent reduction – get the forms by calling 718-739-6400 or at www.dhcr.state.ny.us) and/or continue filing complaints by phone with both the city’s housing department and health department. Get advice from Met Council or another housing group if you want to take the landlord to court. Take pictures of the mold and the leak condition. If the mold growth was caused by the landlord’s negligence, and has made part of your apartment unusable, or destroyed your personal property you might be able to get an abatement on the rent or money from small claims court for your destroyed belongings. If you hire a mold specialist to inspect your apartment or to do abatement work, keep all the receipts. If you or other household members feel that the mold is affecting your health, seek medical help and keep a record of what the doctor says and any medical bills you have to pay because of the problem. You might be able to get compensated for your expenses by negotiating with the landlord (or suing if that fails).

Organize!

You should contact other tenants in the building if you think the problem is building-wide and get them involved in as a group to pressure the landlord. Keep in mind that the landlord’s insurance company will want to know about these problems as well. Use local media if the landlord is not being responsible about clean up. If the problem is severe, contact local elected officials and get their help in extracting effective help from the city’s agencies. Contact Met Council or a local housing group for help in organizing against a landlord who refuses to clean up.

For More Information about Mold

The information and advice from this fact sheet was collected from the following agencies – contact them for more information or assistance:

The New York City Department of Health can provide information about the health effects of mold exposure and information about the safe removal of mold.
New York City Department of Health, Office of Environmental Investigations at (212) 442‑3372 or the Environmental and Occupational Disease Epidemiology Unit at (212) 788‑4290.
There is information about mold, how to remove it, and how to deal with some of the health effects the NYC Dept of Health website: Facts About Mold Guidelines on Assessment and Mold in the Home.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s National Center for Environmental Health has information on its website about mold and clean up procedures as well as links to information about mold and asthma and other environmental issues.
The National Institutes of Health’s Medline provides web access to articles on various types of health issues related to mold.

Use libraries and the internet to search for magazine and newspaper articles on mold, its health effects and what tenants are doing around the country to combat the problem.