# Moved out of contracted apt due to mould



## catface (10 Mar 2011)

hi 

Im wondering if anyone could give me some advice, myself and 2 other girls were living in an apartment. 

But then it began to grow both blue green and black mould. I told the landlord and he said it was to be expected from an old place, we cleaned it and continued to live there. 

It then began to get worse and it was in every room, the shower the fridge and it was making us ill, we had no choice but to vacate imediatly due to safety, our rent was payed up so we left before it was due again, we notified the landlord after we left. 

Now he is  stating we left the place in a terrible state even though we actually cleaned the house except the mould and then we left, we also have pictures of all the mould and that a wall is litterally falling down in one room. 

Iv also got 5 different withnesses stating the place was clean aprart from mould when we left, we want our deposit back due to the fact of health and safey and we were getting sick and we had no choice but to leave, can anyone give me some advice please?


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## elcato (10 Mar 2011)

You should get in touch with Threshold. Make an appointment in your nearest office. Bring your lease, pictures and all the information with you. While you may have to wait a while to get your deposit back, they should forward you to the PRTB so you can make a complaint.


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## catface (10 Mar 2011)

im un able to find the lease, but iv been looking up citizens advice all day and they have great info, the building is in reach of at least 5 rules, fire safty also, i wont stop untill i get my money back, one of my house mates is alergic to mold and i am astmatic we had to leave straight away,


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## elcato (10 Mar 2011)

Don't worry about the lease as I'm sure the LL will have a copy as part of his proof for keeping the deposit. Good for you to chase it but you really need to start the ball rolling as soon as possible by either meeting with CA person or Threshold.


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## catface (10 Mar 2011)

yea iv e mailed threshold and citizens advice and was talking to the landlord last night, he's trying to maintain we left the place in a state even though we broke our backs cleaning it before we left, apart from the mold as that was not our responsibiltiy plus we got ill the last time we cleaned it as there 3 types of mold, we have photos of the house clean when we left and there dated so if he produced pictures that show a messy apartment they wont be right as 5 of us seen it clean and we have photos, he rang again today maintianing the microwave was dirty so we were pigs, i told him the wall is falling off in one bed room thats more important than a lillte dirt on a microwave, ill chaese it to the end i will get free legal aid to so it wont cost me a thing .


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## Maggs065 (10 Mar 2011)

How many days notice did you give him and was it per the contract?
Also was the mold growing because of lack of air i.e did you open the windows every day? Mold grows in my bathroom due to lack of window and I have to clean it regularly.
Is it a very old apartment?


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## catface (10 Mar 2011)

the mold was growin in the fridge in every window opened and closed, it was growing in the back of all the wardrobs on the doors in the bathroom hot press, and on the carpets, and behind all the radiators, he had all the vents blocked up, it was growing up the sitting room walls and even on leather couches, it was litterally everywhere, one wall was falling apart too, the whole block is damp u can see it from outside the building, its very old, we couldnt give any notice we all got really sick and had no way of gettin in contact with the landlord as we hadnt even credit on out phone, we had to get out straight away, im astmatic and the other girl is alergic to mould, the rent was all paid up and we'd been cleaning it for months but it got so bad we had to leave then notify him,


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## catface (10 Mar 2011)

there were 3 different types of mold, blue, black and a strange orange type that began in the windows, we looked up on line how to get rid of it but it didnt work,


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## catface (10 Mar 2011)

cotract siad a month , but if the apratment was un safe there has to be a way of gettin deposit back, there was also no fire safety measure in force, no fire blankets or smoke alarms either, and all the windows were letting in alot of air they didnt even need to be open even the curtains were growing


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## AlbacoreA (11 Mar 2011)

Why did you move in if it was that bad?


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## delgirl (11 Mar 2011)

Would be interesting to know what the cause of the mould was.

I had tenants in a property who were constantly complaining of mould on the bedroom ceilings and in the bathroom.

We had it cleaned, sealed and re-painted many times, only for it to reappear again.

In the end we discovered, during an unscheduled visit to the property, that the tenants were drying clothes on and in front of the radiators in the bedrooms and in the bathroom with all the windows closed, as they were out at work during the day.

This is what was causing the mould and it cost us a lot of money cleaning and painting until we discovered that it was actually the tenants who were causing it.

Not saying this is the case in the OP's property, but sometimes problems are unknowingly caused by the tenants themselves.


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## Bronte (11 Mar 2011)

I find it hard to believe two things, one that anyone would live in and clean mould of such a level and two that clothes drying would cause such a level of mould.  

Catface did you give the landlord proper notice that you were leaving.  You can take the case to the PRTB if the landlord does not return your deposit.


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## catface (13 Mar 2011)

We had a tumble dryer so all our clothes were dried in that. We were given strick intruction not to dry clothes out the windows. 

We moved in because the place looked fine it had all been re paited and cleaned a few days before we moved into the place, the mould came along slowly and once we bagan to clean it it hten began to come back at an awful rate, we tried many different ways to clean it, as we idnt want to leave as we liked the area and apartment, but it got so so bad we had to leave straight away.  My mother came and seen it and made us leave, we paed our months ent so we left before the next was due, we didnt get to give notice, but either way the landlord wont be able to rent it now till its fixed, the whole block is terrible i poped back and there are huge bubbles growing on the walls in front entrance and its clear to see it damp, as i said iv asthma so my breathin was awful and the other girl is alergic to moul and her wall was fallin apart in her room, alot more of what we found wanst dicsovered untill we were pakin up tp leave


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## catface (13 Mar 2011)

the guy was onto me the other day and his attitude was awful, one thing he said really got me , he said he'd been renting to polish people for years and they never complained, another thing was that the heaters in the place were so old that they didnt heat the place correctly so when they were on they were keepin the house at just the right way so the mould wouldnt fester we only seen a small amount, we brought in our own heater and as the heat began to dry the damp out of the apartment the mould was clear to see, i checked the lease before using the heater so as to make sure we could use it, so proper heating of the house showed up what they'd been tryin to hide with substandard heaters


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## AlbacoreA (13 Mar 2011)

None of what your saying makes much sense. Better heating causes more damp?
Apart from the mould all the other problems you mention, no smoke alarms, no fire blankets, bad windows, damp on the outside,  should be easily noticed before you moved it. But all of that is irrelevent, what difference does it make now. You moved out thats the end of it. 

What advice are you looking for. How to get your deposit back. 

There IS only one route you can go. The PRTB. Show them your evidence. If you have any evidence, or even if you have none, its very likely they'll find in the tenants favor.


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## catface (13 Mar 2011)

the heater s he had are vintage, they were installed when the apartments were built over 30 years ago, we were using themthe first two months , the house was always cold while using them, we got an electrician in and he said the heaters were ****, they wouldnt do much, we stopped using them, and procedded to get a different heater, this heater worked after using this heater the mould began to seep through the walls, because we were now heating the house properly (with up to standard heating) then shortly after the mould worsened, there was already mould but as i said when we bagan to heat the house and the damp was being irradicated the mould festered, so we came to the conclusion that because we had used the old heaters for the first few months and they were not working right (not giving enough heat to dry the walls out) that by the landlord not up dating his heating systems he knew this would keep mould at bay, i had spoken to him a couple of months earlier and he had asked me was there any mould and id said some he said it was to be expected, so he knew the apartments were moulded or pron to it, i have been incontact with both threshold and prtb,i have plenty of ptoograhic evidence and plenty of withnesses, thanks

the windows were all dry when we moved in, i was un aware there was to be fire blanlets and such as i was a first time lease holder, i seen many homes with damp on the outside of them before so i didnt no think it was relevant or that it would be inside to, as i said they whole place had been repainted the day before we moved in, we didnt cause it ourselves, sure it was even growing in the back of my wardrobe which i hadnt seen as i rarely used it but upon moving out i seen it, this mould was blue, the one in the sitting room was was black, the bathroom had an orange type along with black, each room had at least two types, we tried to clean it oursleves but it worsened,

bronte, we didnt stay long once it began to worsen, it kind of escliated very fast, it was just little bits at first then bam it was everywhere, we cleaned it once or twice spending a fortune on produts but it didnt work, we then got really ill so we had to just give up and leave, we gave no notice, but all rent was up to date and we even cleaned when we left, except the mold of course,


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## AlbacoreA (14 Mar 2011)

Is there a point to this?


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## Bronte (14 Mar 2011)

Well it looks like you didn't give proper notice.  But I'm sure there must be some rule about people being allowed to leave a place if it's uninhabitable.  Threshold are of no use to you.  You have your photographic evidence what did the PRTB tell you your rights were?

As an aside, what type of heaters were in the apartment?  Were they electric heaters, electric storage heaters and what type of heater did you purchase.  

Also could you give more details on the wall falling down?  Was it this way when you moved in?


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## catface (22 Mar 2011)

the heaters were electric heaters, they were installed when apartments were first built around 30 years ago, no the walls were fine when we got there, it was fine for the first few months and then it began too fall apart slowly, 

the prtb have said we may have a case and i've to send them all the photos and the landlords details, 
i am also waiting an appointment with free lagl aid solicitor so ill keep you updated,


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## catface (22 Mar 2011)

the point was i was asking for some advice or asking had anyone been in a similar situation, i am causing no harm in asking a question,


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## minion (22 Mar 2011)

delgirl said:


> Would be interesting to know what the cause of the mould was.
> 
> I had tenants in a property who were constantly complaining of mould on the bedroom ceilings and in the bathroom.
> 
> ...




I had this several times too.  But you cant convince anyone who hasnt seen it happen.  Noone has a mould problem before.  One tenant moves in and gets mould problems.  No matter what you do it comes back.  When they leave mould never comes back again.  Miraculous.

That said, I have been in houses where there is definitely damp getting in from the outside


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## AlbacoreA (22 Mar 2011)

Did you contact the PRTB and look at their site?

[broken link removed]


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## Bronte (23 Mar 2011)

catface said:


> the heaters were electric heaters, they were installed when apartments were first built around 30 years ago, no the walls were fine when we got there, it was fine for the first few months and then it began too fall apart slowly,
> 
> the prtb have said we may have a case and i've to send them all the photos and the landlords details,
> i am also waiting an appointment with free lagl aid solicitor so ill keep you updated,


 
Very strange walls build 30 years ago would suddently start to fall down. Would love to see your pictures, any chance you could put them up here ?

You don't need free legal aid.  In a landlord tenant dispute you must go via the PRTB.


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## catface (24 Mar 2011)

they had put all new wall paper over the walls in the room that had the wall concerned, when the damp began to set in the wall paper pelled and it was clear to see the walls were rotting, i'd like to just say that we did nothin to this apartment to make it this way, we were first time tenents and were cleary seen coming a mile away, i have spoken to a solicitor and he said even though we did not give notice we still have a very strong case, our only downfall was not giving notice but due to the state of the apartment our case is stronger than that of the landlord,


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## AlbacoreA (24 Mar 2011)

Did you go to the PRTB


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