Renting a home or apartment in Ventura County should make you confident that you and your family have a safe place to call home, but that is not true when properties are infested with mold. Despite the implied warranty of liability in California when tenants rent properties, mold-infested properties sometimes make it through the rental process, and tenants can be seriously harmed as a result. Contact the Law Offices of John B. Richards and our toxic mold exposure attorney if you or someone you love has been exposed to mold due to the inaction or negligence of a landlord or property manager.
The Mold that infiltrates a home or apartment must be taken seriously and eradicated upon its initial discovery. Otherwise, mold can have a detrimental effect on human health, especially if you or someone in the home has a mold allergy, asthma, or chronic breathing problems such as COPD or emphysema.
Mold is neither desirable nor sanitary, and tenants who see or smell mold in their rental units should report it to their landlords right away in order to mitigate the negative effects of the mold. According to the California Department of Health Services, mold can cause health issues through allergic reactions, infections, or inflammation. Typical signs that you or someone you love has been exposed to mold include:
Additional symptoms reported by people exposed to mold include headaches, mood swings, body aches, memory problems, fever, and nosebleeds. It doesn’t take a full-blown infestation of mold to cause symptoms. Some folks are triggered by a relatively low number of mold spores.
In California, tenants who report mold problems to their landlords must give the landlord up to 30 days to remedy the problem. After that time, a tenant can file a civil claim against the landlord for any damages suffered as a result of the mold. In addition, tenants can withhold their rent payments and report the issue to appropriate local and state health agencies. Damages may include past, present, and future medical costs and lost income as well as compensation for any property damages that result from the mold infestation.
Standing up to your landlord and/or your landlord’s insurance company can be scary, but you are not alone. At the Law Offices of John. B. Richards, our compassionate and experienced Ventura County toxic mold exposure attorney has a proven history of going toe-to-toe with negligent and uncaring landlords and holding them to account for the injuries they cause their tenants when they fail to clear properties of mold. Reach out to us now for a free case evaluation by clicking here or calling 805-683-2736.