Rental Disaster

If you're in the market for a new rental, I highly recommend that work with either an apartment complex or real estate agency.  We took a chance on working with an independent landlord and now we're in rental hell!!  Turns out our landlord does not believe in fixing anything.  First we had an issue with the heat.  Thank goodness that problem was resolved with a flip of a switch and changing the filter.

Then there was the bug problem. We solved that ourselves by spraying and putting mess screen in all of our vents and caulking all the cracks.  Now we're battling a leaky roof and some serious mold issues.  A few weeks ago we had a very bad storm and the ceiling in the kitchen started leaking in two places.  One of those places was just over the stove. (Can you say dangerous!!!)  And the other was over the frig.

Huge mold, leaky spot over the stove.  See how the tiles are hanging low?

Mold spot over frig.

Well, my husband called the landlord, who lives one house down, and got no answer.  Called him again a day later and still no answer.  Finally, that evening he comes by.  He doesn't come in but stops my husband in the driveway.  What does he think about our leaky roof and mold issues?  Absolutely nothing.  

He said that his own house is having the same issues.  Honestly, I don't give a damn about his house.  We're renting from him.  Giving him money and signed a lease that stated he would be responsible for all repairs being made in a timely manner.  Now, mold and water leaks are serious issues.

It's been almost a month and our roof is still not fixed.  He claims that he called his brother to come fix it but he hasn't gotten around to it.  Plus, I don't even think his brother is a licensed contractor.  At this point, I'm about ready to start raising hell.  Moo's room is pretty much off times because her ceiling has some funky orange mold spot on it and it's giving off this toxic smell. 

Mold spots in Moo's room. Flash has them glowing white but they're a funky orange color in person.

Mold from those spots on broom handle.  Nasty!!

So, this week we will be trying to figure out what we're going to do with all her stuff because we absolutely no room to move it anywhere else.  Next on my list is filing a complaint with the Department of Health.  He is not following landlord-tenant laws and with the toxic mold he legally isn't suppose to be collecting rent from us. (Yes, I'm somewhat of a law whiz.  I may or may not have considered criminal justice as a career.)

I've also found some pretty awesome places for us rent while we continue our house hunt and save to up our down payment amount.  After the last disaster of losing our dream house, we want to be prepared.  I'm learning that patience is key when house hunting.  Plus, renting is fine because it gives us more time to figure out which neighborhoods we certainly want to consider living in.

Please rest assured that by the middle of next month we will be outta here!!  I can't live like this and neither can my kids.  Most importantly, I'm allergic to mold and I'm pretty sure that's the reason I've been sick and the reason the husband is getting sick.  Thank goodness Moo's allergy test revealed that she's not allergic to mold.  Shocker I know since she's allergic to everything else.

This situation just sucks.  Just beware when renting.  Talk to other tenants first and get the real skinny on the landlord or just still to legit rentals from an apartment complex or agency.  I wouldn't wish this mess on my worst enemy.