Mold issues and the litigation involved!!!

Mold issues and the litigation involved!!!

PITTSBURG — Tenants of an apartment complex here are suing their management company over claims that it failed to remove mold that made them sick.

About 30 residents of Portofino Apartments on Loveridge Circle are signing onto a lawsuit, said attorney Bob Levin, against management company Riverstone Residential Group, citing poor living conditions and retaliatory responses to complaints. Levin said he plans to file the suit “within the statutory period,” once he meets with all prospective plaintiffs.

The common thread among the tenants’ complaints is allegations of mold growing on walls, in carpet, and in windowsills and doorjambs. Other complaints include cockroach and rodent infestations, broken heating and air conditioning systems, and faulty smoke detectors.

Residents say their concerns have been ignored, and instead were met with eviction threats.

“I have investigators looking into other aspects of this,” said Levin, who is considering seeking class-action status. “I don’t know how far this thing’s going to go.”

Katie Fleischer, a representative for Riverstone, said the company had no comment.

Trina Henderson, who was the first Portofino resident to contact Levin, said she had been living at the complex for a month when the dizziness, nausea and breathing problems began this spring.

Though she already suffers from an autoimmune disease, Henderson said these symptoms were new. Soon, Henderson found what she believes to be the culprit: black mold around her windowsills, on the ceiling, and spreading into the carpet.

When management told Henderson in writing that they found “no infestation of mold/mildew” in her apartment, Levin arranged a mold inspection that confirmed Henderson’s suspicions: elevated levels of airborne mold, as well as surface mold.

The May 24 report, by Folsom’s Environmental Services, noted leaks from window sills and mold growing at the living room’s sliding glass door.

“The longer we’re staying in here, the sicker we’re getting,” said Henderson, who lived in the unit from February until last week with her 23-year-old son.

Now, other Portofino tenants, including Kim Carlson, have come forward saying they are sick from toxic mold. They say the management company has refused to fix it, and that their complaints have been met with retaliation.

Carlson said her infant grandson became sick after management failed to fix a roof leak, and she began finding mold growing on her walls behind furniture. She said the baby was hospitalized at Children’s Hospital Oakland for two months for a nervous system disorder, and that doctors suspect mold exposure as the cause.

An Environmental Services’ inspection of Carlson’s unit done June 4 found “visible mold growth” in the kitchen, bedrooms, bathrooms and living room.

After notifying management of the situation, Carlson said she was wrongfully evicted from the apartment. Carlson said she would have left on her own but couldn’t afford the expense.

She said she recently lost her job and home to foreclosure, and will be homeless when she leaves Portofino on July 18.

“People don’t care,” Carlson said. “They don’t want to help people like me.”

On www.complaintsboard.com, a former tenant of a Riverstone property in Walnut Creek complains of a similar situation in which he received what he perceived as a wrongful eviction notice after complaining of a mold problem. Internet research also turned up similar consumer complaints about Riverstone properties in Louisiana, North Carolina, Texas and Washington.

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, evidence has been found linking indoor mold exposure to respiratory problems in children and adults suffering from other ailments, such as autoimmune disorders and asthma.

According to city, state and county officials, tenants whose landlords won’t address mold infestations have little recourse other than legal action.

Pittsburg building official Curtis Smith, who inspected Henderson’s apartment at her request, said his department’s purview extends mainly to structural and building code issues.

“We just don’t get involved in mold,” Smith said. “We just don’t have the expertise.”

Contra Costa County hazardous materials specialist Melissa Hagen said landlords are responsible for repairing any water leak that causes mold to grow. If landlords aren’t responsive, Hagen said tenants can legally withhold rent to pay for the repairs, or can take them to court.

State Consumer Affairs spokeswoman Kim Brown said that because scientists differ on the health effects of mold exposure, it may be difficult for tenants to prove what has made them ill.

“I would say they had a legal battle ahead of them,” Brown said.

Now that she has moved out, Henderson said she wants to recoup her medical and moving expenses through the lawsuit, and prevent future tenants from having the same problems.

“My main goal,” she said, “is to make them clean these apartments up.”

Dan Rosenstrauch/Staff
Portofino Apartments resident Trina Henderson holds a report this month showing elevated mold levels in her apartment.