Mold on Wall in House - Tenets Not Paying

[Ryan Haase]

I'm currently out of state and I received a call from a tenet today that there is mold growing on the wall behind their couch and under the sink. The tenet sent me some pictures and the good news is that the mold is green/white in color and not black. The bad news is that my tenet is claiming (probably true) to be feeling ill after seeing the mold and will be staying at a family member's home and not paying rent.

We've called around and can't get a company like servepro to go out until Monday so they'll be out the the home until then and letting the mold grow. The tenet is blaming us for the mold, but they have been in the home since February with no issue and we have no know mold issues with the home. Their lease is us at the end of this coming February so I'm fine if they want to break lease, but two questions, wouldn't this fall under a lease clause about keeping the home clean? Also, with non-black mold, what is typical remediation? Do they have to cut the drywall?

[Michael Hayworth]

Oh, fer **** sake. It's a little mold. There's no need to call a mold company who'll find some way to charge you thousands of dollars. Mold hysteria was just that-hysteria. That's why, as soon as insurance companies stopped paying for mold claims, all the news, medical claims, etc. died down.

Call a reputable contractor. You have something causing a wet condition that's allowing the mold to grow. A good contractor, or even a good handyman, depending on the source, can find it and fix the moisture problem. Common problems are pipe leak, even separated PVC on a drain (since you say under the sink), rotted window sills, dirt up over the foundation allowing water in between the brick and the foundation, or a dozen other things. You need to find that and fix it. 

Bleach or any other good fungicide kills mold. But if you just spray bleach on it and paint over it, it'll come right back because you haven't gotten rid of the moisture source that caused it.